Song of the Seraph
by Yoronoko
Summary: AU. In a world where there are schools dedicated to teach the willing young men and woman specialized arts, meet Rintoki Tsubasa, the last Seraph.
1. Chapter 1: Preparations

**Hello everyone! As you may notice, this story has the same title as my first story: Song of the Seraph. I wanted to re-write the story because basically, it has already been done and I wanted to write something that would stand out. So now this story is a full AU and I hope that it will meet your standards! I want to thank everyone who read the original and I especially want to thank Soundtrack-Fanatic who was the first person to Favorite my story! I would love to read your reviews and any suggestions that you may have for future events or OVA's and I will try to respond to all of them. Thanks again!**  
 **-Yoronoko**

Chapter 1: Preparations

Rin was abruptly woken up from her peaceful slumber to someone knocking, no, _pounding_ franticly on her door.

"RinRinRinRinRinRin! RIN! WAKE UP, SLEAPY HEAD! TODAY'S THE DAY!" her best friend, Umi shouted from the other side. Rin got up rather annoyed at the rouge and yawned.

"You could have woken me up more softly. I know you can easily pick my lock, no matter how many times I change it..." the girl called out glumly. She heard the lock click and in came a petit girl with narrowed eyes.

"The last time I did that, you threatened to skin me alive and feed me to the crows" she responded back curtly. Umi shut the door behind her and bounded across the room to Rin's side. "Now get up and help everyone prepare for the Gathering! And also, Madame Osen was calling for you." Umi added cheerfully.

"Why didn't you say that earlier!" Rin yelled, franticly getting up and running to her dresser to change into her work clothes.

"Does the order I say things matter?" Umi asked innocently. "I thought everything I said was important!" the girl yelled with feigned hurt, throwing an arm to her face and wiping away her crocodile tears. Rin shook her head and let out a soft chuckle, now finished with dressing, she went to the wash basin on her table and quickly scrubbed her heart shaped face, hands running over her sharp, slightly pointed nose, small dainty lips and high cheekbones which seemed to never have color in them, even when cold. Quickly drying her face off she went to a tall mirror which hung on her wall trying to tame her bed hair with her brush. Rin wore her hair in a short bob, her ringlets sticking up in different directions. Her golden orbs gazed at her reflection, a black "shirt" with light brown capris, dark brown belts criss-crossing her waist and holding her two swords on her right side, her most prized possessions, with some dark combat boots to top it off. Rin looked herself over again, making sure her "shirt" was in place. It was more like a tank top, but instead of two straps holding the cloth up, there was one strap witch went around the back of her neck, leaving half of her back exposed, which of course, was a given. How else would Rin's pure white wings be free?

Done with her morning ritual, Rin turned back and looked at her friend, who was glancing her way. "Decent?" Rin asked.

"You always look great! No one can pull off exposed back like you can, Rin" Umi teased. The young seraph shot the rouge a scowl and moved to the door.

"We best be going now. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone was awake already" Rin said, more to herself than her friend. They began to walk through the East Dormitory, headed to the Grand Hall where all of the events were primarily held. The dorms were quiet. Only the soft, almost inaudible footfalls of the two girls could be heard. When the friends began to near the Grand Hall, a wall of noise hit them like a wave. Girls shouting orders and trying to make everything "Perfect" for the incoming guests.

"Wow, all of this trouble for a couple of boys. What's the big deal?" Rin said to her friend. She had to speak up so the rouge could hear her.

"Well, it has been 10 years since the last Gathering and besides some of the teachers, there are no male students" Umi answered nonchalantly. As a floating island, Nirvana was originally inaccessible to anyone without magic or flight until the original Seraph Order turned it into a school for young women, welcoming both human and yokai who wished to specialize in special skills. Umi, for example, trains as a rouge. She specializes in lock picking, stealth, and the bow as well as daggers. The Gathering is a festival which welcomes the men down on the surface who attend a similar school. Most of the graduates from their academy enter military forces for the government. As a tradition meant to signify unity among the young men and women of Nippon, the Gathering is treated as a rather important event. "By the way Rin, you might want to report to Madame Osen. You don't want to keep her waiting" Umi said quickly. "I need to help Chizuru cook the food".

"Okay, thanks for waking me up, Umi! And don't sneak up on Chizuru again. Remember what happened last time?" Rin called back, turning to go the Headmistress' office.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember. For a second, I thought she could fly, judging by how high she jumped" Umi answered with a smile. She waved at Rin's retreating figure and turned to head to the kitchens.

* * *

"ALRIGHT MEN! LISTEN UP!" Headmaster Kondo barked to the rows upon rows of students. "We have been graced with an invitation from Madame Osen to attend the Gathering held at Nirvana. So while there, I will have not tolerate any foolhardy behavior or I'll throw you off of the island's edge myself, DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?"

"YES, SIR!" all of the students at Shieikan Military Academy answered back.

"Dismissed!" All of the student broke up from their formation and started to chat excitedly. A young man left his position and started toward his friends, a rather large group. Nearing his companions, he was greeted with the talk of girls, festivities, and girls.

"Oh, Hajime-kun. Took you long enough" a taller man with forest green eyes and brown hair called out. The other men in the group turned and acknowledged his presence, quickly reforming their circle and including him in their conversation.

"I've never seen a floating island before" a younger man with a long pony-tail said excitedly. Another, very muscular man with a green bandana wrapped around his head took this as an opportunity to tease him and taunted,

"Yeah Heisuke, and I bet you've never seen a girl before either. The place is packed with them, from what I've heard" the man snickered.

"Shinpat-san, you're such a womanizer. I bet you will manage to scare all of them off like you do with the woman here, regardless of how "fearless" they are" the man, Heisuke countered.

"Heh, woman as fearless as that would be awed by my muscles! They will pay so much attention to me that a shrimp like you would go unnoticed!" Shinpatchi boasted while flexing and striking poses.

"Oh my, at it again are you" a red haired man said, shaking his head. "Promise me that you two will try to behave. I can't watch both of you at the same time".

"You will be so busy dealing with woman that you will have no time for us, Sano-san" Heisuke grumbled. Saitou and a shorter man, clad in black watched this exchange, exasperated at their immaturity while Okita enjoyed the show, a smirk on his lips.

"What will you be doing on the island, Yamazaki-kun" Saitou asked the shorter man in his deep, quiet voice, an attempt to change the conversation to something a little more interesting.

"I want to visit the library. I read that it has many books on medicines and healing procedures. I wish to study what I can while there" the man, Yamazaki answered quietly. "What do you think you'll be doing? he asked, genuinely curious for the stoic man's answer. Surely he wouldn't be interested in what the baka trio was discussing earlier.

"I want to visit the forge. It's said that the best steel in the world is made there." Saitou answered quickly, imagining what the room would look like with swords and other weapons adorning the walls. Okita raised an eyebrow.

"That's all your interested in isn't it, Hajime-kun. I wouldn't be surprised if you managed to take a sword back with you" Okita said with a sly grin.

"That would be highly unlikely" was all the man answered, face void of emotion. Suddenly, a loud gong resonated within the compound. That was the signal that told the men to board the air ships. All of the students started to walk to the airways. There were a total of three airships on the docks. You could see the propellers starting to turn and engines starting to hum. The group boarded the first ship, Sky Sailor, together and sat at their designated seats. Due to their skills, the young group of men were aloud to accompany the some of the teachers and Headmaster along with the other highly skilled students on the journey. The other teachers were monitoring the other air ships.

"It will take a total of seven hours to make it to the checkpoint" Headmaster Kondo called out to the men. The men groaned, displeased with the information. After a few minutes, the ships took air, and started to ascend higher and higher into the altitude. Some of the men chose to spend their time sleeping while others, like Saitou, decided to look out of the window, watching as the ground got farther and farther away until they it was completely hidden by the clouds. _'I wonder what Nirvana looks like'_ Saitou thought to himself.

One hour passed, then another, and another. By this time, most of the students on the ship had gotten bored and decided to walk around, exploring the airship's vast space. There was the deck and the waiting room which where on the same level and storage on the second. The airship was built like a massive boat that was held suspended in the sky by a giant balloon. Propellers in the back of the hull pushed the ship forward while the rudder turned it. After a while, the group decided to go on deck than be inside a stuffy room. Aside from the occasional comment and scuffle, everyone was quietly awaiting the destination when the ship suddenly stopped, sending most of the men staggering forward. Slight confusion swept through the men and everyone seemed to share the same thought. "This can't be Nirvana. There's nothing here". The door to the waiting room opened to reveal Headmaster Kondo who was flanked by the teachers. And flanking the teachers was the student counsel. The student counsel was made up of three men; Kazama Chikage, the president, Shiranui Kyo and Kyuujyu Amagiri who always followed closely behind him.

It was clear that the student council wasn't the groups favorite band of people and who could blame them? They tended to be rather unpleasant to anybody they felt inferior to them, the president especially. Trying to hide their expressions of disgust, Saitou, Okita, Yamazaki, Heisuke, Shinpatchi and Harada turned away and faced the Headmaster, giving him their utmost attention.

"Men, in formation!" the Headmaster called out. His voice loud enough to withstand the wind and carry his voice the other airships. Quickly, the men filed into their lines on both sides of the deck, leaving a clear path that ran down the center of the deck leading to the Headmaster, teachers, and the damned student council. "Everyone is to be quiet when our guest gets here to inspect our ships as a precaution. There is to be no disrespect directed toward her or you will be disciplined with a month of kitchen duty!" The students were quiet. All that could be heard was the wind and hum the engines. Nobody wanted kitchen duty. It took a lot of time and work to clean up a room which helped feed hundreds of bodies.

Everyone waited for a few more moments when suddenly a flash of movement caught their eyes. The being moved closer and closer and circled around the airships once before finally landing on the Sky Sailor. It took a moment for the men to recognize what they were seeing. It was a girl clad in ceremonial attire with _wings_ on her back. The odd being bowed low to the Headmaster in greeting before walking toward him. Every one's eyes were trained on the stranger, following her every step. It was at this moment that Saitou noticed the look in the student president's eyes. His crimson orbs looked at the girl hungrily, as if she was a piece of meat. As the girl got closer to where he stood, Saitou noticed that her face was covered with a white mask, gold inlayed in intricate patterns around the edges. Her steps were quiet and graceful and she carried a bag filled with an unknown substance. The headmaster stepped forwards and welcomed the young girl.

"Thank you for coming all of this way. We hope that there are little to no impurities aboard our vessel" Kondo told the girl. She nodded and said something, but it was much to quiet to be heard from the place Saitou was standing. It must have been something amusing enough for the Headmaster to start laughing, surprising everyone. "As you were" Kondo ordered after the exchange. The girl nodded her head and opened here bag which contained a silver knife, obviously crafted for ceremonies. The girl surprised everyone by taking the knife and running it across her palm, drawing blood. It was a deep cut, and soon a steady stream of it ran down her arm and spilled to the deck floor. Distraught by the action, the students soon became uncomfortable and tension was in the air. The only thing that kept them in place was the look on the Headmaster's face, which told them to stay still and watch.

The girl let the blood gather in a single spot and a faint blue light started to circle her before she started to chant. It almost sounded like a song but spoken in a dead language. The girl's blood turned black and moved to form symbols which moved across the ship's surface in lines. The girl continued to chant and feed the spell. Somehow at one point, chains appeared to link the mother ship to her two companions and the symbols spread across from _them_. The blue light seeped into the grains of wood and the song stopped. Everyone was silent until it was disrupted by an inhuman sound. A black substance bubbled from the hull until it fully emerged, making itself visible for all to see. A 10 foot tall demon with a wolf like head and humanoid body adorned with scales solidified from the black substance. The demon roared at the girl and before anybody could react, it charged.

With a swish of cloth, the girl removed her ceremonial garb to revile rather normal clothing and two swords. Unsheathing them faster than the eye could see, the girl ran towards the demon and _jumped_. Her wings unfurled and she quickly rose higher to meet the monster head on. The fight was over before it even started when the girl somehow got behind the monster facing away from it and sheathed her weapon. The demon staggered forward and collapsed. It's body melted back into the bubbling surface before the symbols closest to it somehow _detached_ themselves from the ships surface to cover it. Then, like a gust of wind, the tainted substance quickly disappeared.

The silence that followed was quickly interrupted by the sound of clapping. The girl turned and saw the Headmaster walking toward her with the student body president following closely behind, the ceremonial robes that were discarded earlier in the red eyed man's arms. "A job well done, as to be expected of Headmistress Osen. Thank you for all of your hard work" Kondo congratulated while Kazama walked forward and handed the girl the clothing, a smile that didn't suit him on his face. "Would you like to accompany us to Nirvana? You must be tired" Kazama said, surprising everyone by being so straight forward. _'He's up to something'_ the group thought in unison. It wasn't often the student body president was hospitable to anyone except the teachers and Headmaster.

The girl shook her head, face still covered by the mask and Kazama's smile vanished and was replaced by a sneer. "I'm sorry, but I must report back to the Headmistress" the girl deadpanned. Upon hearing this, the baka trio tried to hide their snickers, but Kazama heard the disruption and his eyes flashed dangerously. The girl turned her head and gave a final nod to Kondo before unfurling her wings and taking off toward the island.

"Back to the living quarters men! We need all hands on deck if we are to go any farther. No man is to step outside once we cross the border!" Kondo ordered. Feet began to shuffle and soon everyone was back inside.

"I wonder what all of that was all about?" Heisuke questioned once seated, referring back to the events with the girl. It was Yamazaki who answered,

"As a place where many yokai and magic are concentrated, Nirvana tends to be the target for any demons because they feed on it. The girl was drawing all impurities out of the ships and focused them into a single area which forced them to take shape" Yamazaki explained.

"Wow, that's neat. But I don't get why she had to cut herself" Shinpatchi said curtly.

"Magic like that probably requires some sort of sacrifice and I think it helped with drawing the thing out" Sano answered. "Damn, I wanted to see her face. I wonder what it looks like..."

"Her looks are besides the point. Did you see the way that snake Kazama was looking at her? You can't tell what someone like that is planning" Shinpatchi said, more to himself than his companions.

"Love struck already, Shinpatchi? That didn't take long" Okita teased, grin stretching ear to ear.

Shinpatchi blushed, "Shut up, Souji! At least I can know how to feel affection while you're cold through and through!" the man shot back.

"Ouch" Sano and Heisuke said at once.

"You shouldn't get infatuation mixed up with affection, Shinpatchi" Okita smoothly replied. Changing the subject, Sano commented on the order Kondo just gave.

"The weather must be a hazard if we are all ordered to stay inside for the duration of the ride"

"Yeah, must be the gales and shredders" Yamazaki said, nodding his head in agreement. "They must be strong enough to throw a man overboard"

Saito was quiet through out this exchange, looking out of the many window that adorned the walls. _'I wonder how she can fly through weather like that...'_

* * *

 _Five hours earlier..._

Rin walked to the Headmistress' office, knocking on her door and waiting to be allowed in. Not a moment later, the door was opened by the Headmistress' attendant, Kimigiku. She was a tall, elegant woman who in her spare time, helped girls with their weaponry. Rin nodded politely to the woman. "Good day, Kimigiku-san. I was summoned by Headmistress Osen" she stated. The woman nodded and opened the door further, allowing her entry. Rin walked into a large, circular room with bookshelves lining the walls and cases holding ancient weapons along with many other oddities. In the center of the room was a large mahogany desk with intricately carved legs, as if depicting stories, which were burdened with the weight of papers piled high and sitting there, dwarfed by the stacks, was Headmistress Osen.

"I'm here, milady" Rin bowed respectfully, waiting to be addressed. For someone so important and tasked with the responsibility of training young woman in many arts, Osen looked ageless. _'It must be because of her immortality as an oni'_ Rin mused.

"Rintoki, thank you for coming!" Osen smiled, putting the paper she just completed on a separate stack. Rin nodded. "I have an important favor to ask of you, actually" Osen asked with sudden serious in her voice. "I need you to purify our visitor's vessels to make sure nothing of ill will gets on the island. It could put us at risk."

"Of course, milady. Is there anything else you need?" Rin asked politely. Osen got up and moved to one of the many cases in her office.

"Yes there is. Before you go, you have to know which spell to use and you have to look the part" the woman answered cheerfully. She opened the case and from it, removed a white cloak with golden edges, a mask to match it and a small knife.

"Wear these over your clothing and take the knife. You need to cut your skin rather deeply for this" the woman said apologetically. Rin accepted the clothing and before she could put her mask on, Osen placed a hand to her head, giving her instructions on how to complete the spell. Rin didn't say it out loud but she already new how to complete the ritual. She did specialize in purification spells after all and studied them any chance she got. Once done, Osen removed her hand and smiled at the girl. "Thanks for this, Rintoki. I need you to report back to me once it's done"

"Of course, Madame" Rin bowed again and started to wear the clothing. She noticed that the cloak had an opening at the back, as if it were originally made for someone with wings. Osen noticed Rin's look and explained.

"That cloak is a ceremonial artifact of the Seraph. I was planning to give it to you sooner or later, for it does originally belong to you now" the woman explained, her voice full of sadness. Not much is said about it but during the last great war which was only 17 years ago, the entire Seraph race was wiped out from a massacre lead by arch demons. As far as anybody knows, Rintoki Tsubasa is the only one left.

Rin gazed at the cloak in wonder. "Thank you, Madame. I'll take care of it" she answered gratefully. The woman nodded.

"Off you go now, don't want to keep the men waiting. If it's one thing a man hates to do is wait for a woman to arrive" Osen said, smiling again.

"I'll be back soon" was the last thing Rin said before she departed.

'I wonder what they will be like...' Rin thought as she got outside, unfurled her wings and started to fly to the checkpoint.

 **That's the first chapter everyone! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2: Arrival

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hakuoki or any of its characters. Only the OC is mine.**

Chapter 2: Arrival

Rin returned back to Nirvana from the airships in 10 minutes. She loved flying, riding the wind and following the updrafts. The seraph loved the feeling of the wind against her hair and wings, pushing her upwards. It was the one reason why she kept her hair so short. Combing the tangles out of long curly hair took forever but not if it was as short as Rin's. It also made her feel lighter and a whole lot cleaner after she bathed, which coincidently, was Rin's second most favorite thing to do.

As Rin neared Nirvana, she noticed the depth of preparation the other girls put into making the island as perfect as possible. _'The school looks more organized than it originally is, if that's even possible'_ Rin thought to herself. The white stone walls of the building looked to be even whiter and shined in the evening sun from the efforts of undoubtedly, a group of girls. The ivy witch crawled up one side of the building had been trimmed back and the windows polished. The flowerbeds were free of weeds and the bushes and trees pruned. The fountain in front of the entryway was scrubbed free of any dirt and there was no stray leaf in sight. Rin looked down and saw the landing dock had been cleared as well. Rin admired her view from above for a short time before she remembered that she was to report back to Headmistress Osen. Rin circled the building and landed on the balcony of her room, one of her many luxuries. _'It will be faster if I go from here'_ the young girl thought. Upon entry to her dorm, Rin noticed a small parcel placed with care on her bed with a letter carefully placed on top. Hands full with her new ceremonial clothing, Rin put them away in her dresser with great care before carefully opening the envelope addressed to her. She immediately knew who it was, recognizing Chizuru's neat handwriting.

 _Dear Rin,_

 _I know that you don't have anything nice to wear for formal occasions so I took the liberty to make you a dress  
which I hope will suit your tastes. It would be a waste if you wear black or dark colors everyday and everywhere.  
_ _I probably wont see you till before the banquette so I'll put your dress in your room where I knew you'll find it.  
Madame Osen requested that everyone be dressed in appropriate attire so please wear it, I would love to  
see it on you. __See you in a few hours!_

 _-Chizuru_

 _P.S._ _Please don't get mad at Umi for breaking into your room while you where out again. I had to get into  
your room somehow._

Rin quickly read over the letter again and set it down next to the parcel. It was rapped in brown paper and tied together with a red ribbon. "I've never had a dress or anything formal to wear before..." Rin said aloud quietly, touched by Chizuru's thoughtfulness. Sure, the young seraph did have ceremonial clothing which she received in the last hour but her own dress... Rin opened the parcel eagerly, untying the ribbon and undoing the folds. Rin had seen many beautiful sights from her flights before but, what lay beneath took her breath away.

A dress the color of the twilight sky. The soft silk shimmered in light, reminding Rin of stars. _'The effort that Chizuru put into this... She even remembered that twilight was my favorite time of day...'_ Rin pressed the dress to her body, admiring its length. It barely reached her knees and the color of the sleeves ended in an even darker colored lace which would reveal her pale skin. _'Chizuru really outdid herself this time'_ Rin mused to herself. She wanted to put the dress on right then and there but still had to report back to Headmistress Osen. Reluctantly, the young seraph put the dress down. _'I'll have to get Chizuru the flowers she always like from Gale Mountains as a thank you'_ Rin thought to herself, knowing that it would take a while to return her kindness to her selfless friend.

Rin quickly left her room and headed back to the Headmistress' room to find her door already opened. Knocking on the door, Rin called out ,"Madame? I've returned".

Rin heard a shuffle and Osen quickly called back, "Yes, come in". Rin entered the office and bowed politely. "How did it go, my dear?" the oni asked. Rin noticed that the headmistress was already dressed in her formal attire, a red and gold kimono with a violet obi. Her hair adorned with beautiful combs.

"Everything turned out alright, Madame. There were no casualties and the impurity was hardly anything notable" Rin answered respectfully. "The Headmaster seems to be in good health and his students seemed as disciplined as ever. The only thing that was unpleasant about the situation was the student council president"

This perked the oni's interest. "Oh, what was he like?" the Headmistress asked casually, careful not to revile any emotion.

"He had blood red eyes and spikey golden hair. For some reason, I got the impression that he thought himself the emperor or something" Rin answered quickly, not caring to talk of the man with formalities at this point. Osen took further interest. _'It can't be'_ the oni thought.

"Mind if I take a look at him?" the headmaster asked, seemingly innocent. Rin nodded and Osen placed a hand on the girl's head. Flashes of images went through Osen's head until she found the one she was looking for. "What a scary looking man. It would be best if you kept away from him during their stay, Rintoki" the woman warned.

"Yes, Madame. Please excuse me, but I must help with the preparations and get ready myself" Rin excused herself. Osen nodded and sent her away, a heavy feeling in her heart. _'Kazama is back'_ the oni thought with dread.

* * *

Rin did what she could to help everyone prepare for their guests be it heavy lifting, flying up and placing banners on the walls or giving the floor a final sweep. By the time she was done, it was already dark and everyone else had already left to bathe and prepare for the banquette. Rin looked through the window to the sky. _'It's already night and they still haven't arrived yet'_. That of course was a given. The checkpoint where the airships made their stop for the inspection was at least 3 hours away going the fastest speed an airship could travel. Rin got back to the island in 10 minutes. Now finished with the preparations, Rin went back to her room to be greeted by two friendly faces.

"Rin! It took you long enough to get here!" Umi all but shouted. Chizuru stood behind her and gave out a soft greeting. Both of them had their formal attire draped over their arms. "Hurry up and get your things. We are going to take a bath before the banquette. I don't want to smell like the food I cooked all day" the rouge ordered. Rin nodded but before she went to pick up her article of clothing, the seraph walked over to Chizuru and hugged her tightly. For Rin, it was sometimes difficult to share her deep emotions with others but when she tried, they understood.

"Thank you for the lovely dress, Chizuru. I will take good care of it" Rin said quietly in her ear. Chizuru smiled and returned the hug as best she could with her arms full and Rin's wings.

"Of course, Rin! I figured that I could make something nice that could fit you. I have been the one fixing all of your clothes after all" the young oni answered. Rin nodded in agreement, remembering the times where Chizuru salvaged some of her clothes that were deemed scrap cloth.

"Come on you guys! Hurry up or we won't make it in time!" Umi exclaimed, impatiently tapping her foot. Rin was a little surprised that although Umi was a very skilled rouge, she could be quite loud when she wanted to be. Rin quickly got her things together and the three girls left for the baths.

The baths were located on the far side of the East Dormitory and took up a very large portion of the second floor. It resembled a bathhouse; large open space, lockers, giant baths, sinks, polished granite floors and the room always seemed to be full of steam. To think that even with a large bath like this was indoors, a hot spring was just located right _outside_. The girls quickly undressed and washed off the dirt and grime from today's labor in the baths special herb treated water. Nudity didn't bother any of the girls living here. After all, they were all girls and with the bond that they all shared, they were practically sisters.

After bathing, the girls got dressed and left the room smelling like flora and wearing fine silks. They went back to Rin's room to finish preparing. Umi was busy styling Chizuru's hair and Rin was applying a little makeup to the oni's face. Chizuru wore a classic pink and violet kimono with cherry blossom patterns with a dark red obi. Umi was wearing a shimmering green corset dress adorned with ruffles on the edges. Her long black hair draped over her back and shoulders.

"There, all done" Umi said after she finished placing hair ornaments in Chizuru's hair. "You look beautiful! Rin, good job on the makeup. Now let's hurry up and gather at the entrance with the others!" the girl said with excitement.

"Eh? Aren't you two going to apply makeup and do your hair as well? It hardly seems fair for you guys to put all the effort on me..." Chizuru exclaimed, blushing slightly. The two other girls shook their heads.

"I only had enough makeup for one person and my hair is to short to do anything with it" Rin explained. She deliberately failed to mention that she didn't like the feeling of the paints and powders on her face. Rin enjoyed applying it on others, not wearing it herself.

"And I like having my hair down, Chizuru. Besides, it's so much fun dressing you up. You look a lot better in a kimono than an apron." The oni blushed again quietly saying thanks. The girls then left to join the other students who had gathered at the school's main entrance, excitedly chattering while waiting for the arrival of their guests.

* * *

 _Three hours earlier..._

The men of Shieikan Military academy gripped the edges of their seats tightly as the ships were tossed around by the wind. _'It's like we are the ball, and the wind is the children'_ Saitou thought, glancing around at his friends. Heisuke's face was a little green and Shinpatchi was clutching his stomach for dear life. Okita had his usual grin on his face as though he was enjoying a ride and Sano sat rather calmly in his seat, his eyes closed. Yamazaki sat as stoically as himself. _'They are taking it rather well,'_ the man thought, remembering his classmates reaction to the hard turbulence, lightning, thunder and sudden turns. Some men had actually opened a window to throw up rather violently and others looked scared to death as if thinking _'I'm going to die. This ship is a deathtrap and it is going to fall out of the sky and crash'_.

The ride lasted another three rather long hours and by then, lightning had struck the group's ship on five separate occasions. Luckily, airships were designed to withstand harsh weather and electricity. They had to be, as their original purpose was for war or transporting merchandise over long distances.

"It's too bad that Hijikata couldn't sit with us, isn't it? I would have loved to see his reaction" commented Okita, light smile on his face that for once reached his forest green eyes. "Too bad he was selected to watch another airship because they were low on staff". Everyone nodded in agreement, suddenly imagining the raven haired mans' possible reactions. Although usually a reasonable man, Toshizo Hijikata had a tendency to become rather pissy when he was worried or uncomfortable and lashed out at others easily.

"I bet that man will write another terrible haiku while here" Sano added smiling. This earned a light chuckle from the group when suddenly, the dark interior of the waiting room was brightened from the moonlight. They were out of the cloud cover at last. Saitou looked back at the enormous cloud the airships had just emerged from and his eyes widened. Let's just say that it looked _really_ bad. For a lot of people, they never get a chance to see the wind, therefore it was always classified as something that was tangible, not visible.

They were wrong.

The harsh winds that surrounded the floating island looked like freshly sharpened knives that would tear anything to shreds. They twisted unpredictably and the clouds followed it, being formed into harsh shapes. The entire area crackled with energy, be it light or sound. _'If hell had weather, that's what it would look like'_ Saitou summed up.

 _'How in the world did that small girl get through all of that?'_ were the thoughts of everyman aboard when it was suddenly interrupted by Heisuke, who exclaimed, "Look!". The men turned to gaze to the area Heisuke was pointing at and everyone's, except the well collected few, eyes widened and jaws dropped.

What they saw was more like a floating continent than an island. For some reason, someone failed to mention that Nirvana was HUGE. There were forests and rivers that fell off the edges like waterfalls. There were even mountains behind the forest and a clear, pristine lake. Near one edge of the island was a cleared out area of land with a large, well lighted building, the school, and a well illuminated landing dock. From where they were positioned, the students in the airships could see a large group of people crowded around the entrance of the building and a ripple of excitement coursed through the men. They were finally here.

 **And that's chapter 2 everyone! I would like to thank you for reading and please review for any constructive criticism or ideas that you may have and I will take them all into consideration. Have a great day!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Banquette

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hakuoki or any of it's characters. Only the OC's are mine.**

Chapter 3: The Banquette

It took a while for the airships to land and by the time they did, the girls of Nirvana were all excitedly chattering.

"Which one is the mother ship, Rin?" Chizuru asked the seraph, looking at the vessels trying to distinguish certain characteristics. Although a pureblooded oni, Chizuru's talents dwelled in the healing arts and not her senses like hearing, sight, or smell. Somehow, this didn't apply to her uncanny ability to be able to notice small cuts and burses, be it on person or clothing, knowing when she added too much spices to her food, or noticing when someone wasn't feeling the norm, be it emotionally, physically or in a health aspect.

"It's the one in the middle" Rin replied, instantly recognizing the airship she landed on a few hours ago, even in the dark. Being an avian creature, pureblooded seraph had greater eyesight than an average person. Some of the few mix-blooded seraph that were left also had this characteristic, although it was weaker than Rin's.

The girls watched as the engines powered down and the ramps dropped, revealing many young men walking out in organized lines being lead by the Headmaster, the teachers, and the student council. Headmistress Osen was in front of her students with her assistant, Kimigiku, and the teachers beside her. "Remember girls," Osen called out, "Be respectful to our guests for the duration of their stay".

Her students quickly responded back in unison, "Yes, Ma 'me!"

As the visiting students from Shieikan Military Academy got closer, Rin felt as though she were being watched and easily picked out the student council president and noticed that he was staring straight at her. _'I don't like that man'_ Rin decided. She didn't know why, but Rin felt uneasy by the stranger's presence and remembered Osen's warning to stay away from him. _'I would have done that even without have being told'_. Rin fidgeted from her position in the crowed of students and stepped back, allowing another person to take her place closer to the oncoming guests. Chizuru immediately noticed her discomfort. It wasn't often that Rin showed her unease in any situation. She always attacked obstacles with confidence.

"What's wrong, Rin?" the oni asked with concern. Umi took notice as well and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah are you feeling all right? You look a little paler than usual. Do you need any water?" Umi asked.

Nodding her head, Rin replied, "Yeah, I don't feel so well. Can we get out of here?" Chizuru and Umi nodded their heads and helped lead their friend through the crowds and into the gardens, headed to the side entrance that lead to the kitchens.

* * *

While walking from the airships toward the school, Hijikata joined his group of friends and walked with them, Shinpatchi and Heisuke filling him in on the events of their journey. Sano whistled. "What a big place" he commented. "I bet we can find something productive to do here". _'That depends on what you find 'productive'_ the group thought.

But Saitou was paying no attention to this exchange and was instead looking around, admiring the garden's tall cherry blossom trees when a flash of movement caught his eyes. Three girls walking away from the commotion at a brisk pace and headed toward a side door, almost hidden in the shadows. _'Where are they going?'_ Saitou looked closer and noticed that of the three girls, one of them had wings, almost as if they reflected the moonlight. _'It's her',_ the man observed, remembering the girl from earlier. _'Something's not right'_. Saitou scanned the area, looking for any abnormalities when he noticed the entire student council looking towards the direction the three girls ran off to.

"Everyone" the usually quiet man spoke up, quickly gaining the attention of the walking group. Although the man knew that he didn't have any proof that Kazama was planning something, he never ignored his gut feeling that something was wrong. "Watch the student council closely. They're planning something". As soon as this sentence was said, the group swerved their heads to look at the student council then immediately to the general direction Kazama was still gazing at to catch three figures quickly retreating into a side entrance. They looked to each other and nodded, knowing to trust Saitou's instincts.

Suddenly, the students of Shieikan stopped in front of the grand school to be greeted by Headmistress Osen and her students. Kondo walked up to the Oni and they spoke quietly for a few moments, smiles evident on their faces. After the short exchange, Kondo and Osen bowed and the Madame opened her arms and exclaimed, "Welcome to the Gathering, proud students of Shieikan Military Academy! We welcome you to our school and the island! Please feel free to wander our vast land. However, should you be in places you should know not to tread, please know that we residents of Nirvana have been aloud to take drastic measures" Osen's voice was full of warning and malice, promising retribution should any harm come to her students. "Please, enjoy your stay!"

After the greeting from the Headmistress, her students quickly followed her example and bowed toward their guests "Welcome!". Kondo laughed and proceeded to lead his student into the school. Upon entry, the students were welcomed with signs posted on the walls such as 'Bathrooms' or 'West Dormitory' There were even maps pinned to the wall, showing the visitors their exact location and the entire layout of the school by floors. As soon as all of the students of Shieikan Military Academy were inside of the school walls, the girls followed suit, ushering the visitors toward the great hall where the banquette was to take place.

The great hall lived up to its name. The celling was arched and high; chandeliers hanging from the stone buttresses and giant stained glass windows in the walls. The tables were already prepared upon entry. There was a large amount of food, tableware, silverware, and candles set on the tables. The students of Shieikan stood for a second, admiring everything, before they were roughly shoved into the room by the girls behind them.

The headmaster, headmistress and the teachers all sat at the table in the very back of the room witch was on a slightly elevated floor while the student sat at the tables dedicated to them by school color. The students of Shieikan sat at the tables that had gold and black tablecloths on them while the students of Nirvana sat at the tables which had gold and silver tablecloths. Once everyone was seated, a hushed silence fell over the room before it was quickly interrupted by Headmistress Osen standing from her seat and saying the simple words that sent everyone in an eating frenzy. "Everyone, please begin".

The great hall was immediately filled with the sounds of silverware clattering and men and women talking. It was at this time that the group had a chance to do a quick scan of the room. They immediately found Kazama's golden head of hair sitting as close as he could to the teachers' table, eyeing everyone. Saitou noticed three empty seats. _'The seats of those girls. They haven't returned yet'_ Saitou thought for a moment, thinking of their location and the school's layout. _'If those girls went into that door from the garden, then the room they entered should lead to those doors'_ the man thought, eyeing a set of double doors which were to his immediate right. The group sat near the front of the room, close to the doors that they entered a few moments ago.

Not going to miss a chance to enjoy themselves, the baka trio immediately started conversation with a few of their other classmates, topics ranging from the great food, to the lack of alcohol and finally the girls themselves. The rest of the group were quiet with the occasional requests to pass something over. Although on full alert for any suspicious activity, the men were admiring the wide assortment of food ranging from the meat, vegetables, stews, soups and breads.

"I wonder who made all of this?" Heisuke questioned to himself while stuffing his face. "It couldn't be all of the students but it couldn't have been one person. That's just not realistic."

"Why not ask someone, Heisuke? It's not like the teachers banned us from talking with the other students. This entire festival encourages it" Sano reasoned.

Heisuke nodded in agreement. "Yeah, why not? I'll ask the next girl that passes us".

"Well, you don't need to wait long. Here are some girls now", Okita said over his cup. Saitou was already looking to the double doors that had just opened, revealing two girls instead of three. He recognized them as the girls that were with the winged one. The girl with black hair was slightly taller than the other and held something in her arms. Upon closer inspection, Saitou and the group realized that it was a large bottle of sake.

Before they had a chance to walk past the group and sit at their table, Heisuke stood up and quickly called out, "Um, excuse me!" earning the attention of the two girls. They turned to look at them, eyes raised.

"Yes? Can I help you?" the one holding the sake asked. Her friend preferred to stay quiet, watching the exchange with wide eyes.

Heisuke fidgeted, slightly blushing before the two girls. Being as inexperienced in the presence of the opposite gender, in this case, two very attractive girls, as he was, the teen quickly lost his train of thought and stood there, dumbfounded. He looked to his friends for help and Okita quickly took this chance to speak up.

"What my friend would like to ask is whom made all of this food? It is delicious."

The girl without the sake quietly spoke up and answered the question. "The both of us did". The oni fidgeted and blushed slightly at the men's stares and Umi stood protectively in front of her.

"Well, it's delicious" Sano quickly commented sincerely. The other men nodded in agreement and Sano quickly asked another, more personal question. "May I ask for your names?" At this, the girls shared a glance and the girl holding the sake answered for both of them.

"My name is Umi and this is my friend, Chizuru" Umi said, pointing to the oni. Chizuru bowed in greeting and Umi did a short wave with her free hand.

The men followed suit and this time, it was Hijikata who introduced them while pointing to the men when their names were called. "My name is Hijikata Toshizo, that is Okita Souji and next to him is Saitou Hajime and Yamazaki Susumu. Those two are Harada Sanosuke and Nagakura Shinpatchi. The one who is still standing is Heisuke Toudou". After the brief introduction, the some of the men gave quiet polite nods while others called out "Hello! Pleased to meet you".

Shinpatchi spoke up after this to quickly confirm, "So, it that sake you are carrying, Umi-chan?" pointing to the large bottle in the girl's arms.

She nodded and answered, "Yeah. They were meant to be drunken as a toast to all of the students but our shipment didn't come in so we don't have enough to serve everybody. I found the stash in the kitchens a while cooking so I'm going to share it with some of my friends. Would you like some? There is more than enough" the girl offered. The men nodded and the girl opened the bottle with a pop, pouring some of its contents into the outstretched cups.

After the drinks were poured, the girls nodded their heads again and started to walk towards their table when they were once again stopped. This time, by Heisuke. "Excuse me and correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you walking with another girl around your age?" The two girls stiffened and Umi turned around, her eyes narrowed.

"Yeah. She wasn't feeling well so she went back to her room. How would you know that?" Umi asked curtly. Her friendly attitude was quickly replaced with one of suspicion.

Immediately knowing that he had tread on unstable grounds, the teen quickly answered nervously, "No, I though I saw three girls walking to a side entrance into the building and recognized them to be you. Just wondering". The girls still looked at Heisuke with narrowed eyes. The girls turned around without a second glance and walked back to their table at a brisk pace.

Saitou closed his eyes and let out an inaudible sigh while Okita voiced his opinion the way he always does when things go wrong. Sarcastically. "Well that went well!" he exclaimed, glaring at the young teen.

"What? How else were we supposed to ask them?" Heisuke said, shrinking back slightly under the glares he was getting.

"Try asking them in a way where it doesn't look like you were watching them. You probably scared those poor girls!" Sano chided. Shinpatchi nodded and quickly stole Heisuke's full cup of sake, drinking it in one gulp. The teen was scolded for his recklessness a little longer before Saitou finally stood up to leave.

"Oh? Where are you going, Hajime-kun?" Okita asked lazily.

The stoic man turned his head and merely replied, "A walk" and left, leaving the banquette and going outside into the gardens.

Saitou breathed a breath of fresh air. It was clean and crisp. He walked around the gardens for a while until he found a stone bench that stood under a grand cherry blossom tree. The seat was cold from the night but the man took no mind to it and sat down. _'It's nice out here'_ he thought while gazing at the night sky. The island was above the clouds and the stars and moon seemed to be brighter. Saitou sat in silence, admiring the view when he felt he wasn't alone. He scanned the area, looking for any forms in the shadows but saw no one. However, the man felt someone's stare on him, the back of his neck twitching, when he finally decided to look up into the branches of the tree.

Saitou's blue eyes were met with golden ones. The two students stared at each other for a moment in silence until the girl in the tree broke it. "Hello, nice night for a walk in the gardens, isn't it?" The man merely nodded, noticing that the girl was about 30 feet up, sitting comfortably on a branch. Saitou quickly scanned the tree from bottom to top. From where he sat, the man saw that the branches were very far apart from each other and decided that it would be a difficult tree to climb, especially in the dark.

"How did you get up there?" Saitou said to himself quietly, voicing the question on his mind.

Surprisingly, the girl heard him and called down, "I flew up here. It's not that hard". It was at this moment that Saitou noticed the white wings on the girl's back. He hadn't seen them earlier due to the few branches obscuring his vision. The two students watched each other once more in silence, not particularly wanting to speak. Realization hit the man and Saitou's eyes widened and he blushed, averting his gaze.

"Please excuse me. I had not known that this spot was already taken" the man said, standing up to leave.

"You don't need to leave" the girl called down. "There is plenty of space here and you wont find another bench under a different tree. Besides, I was about to leave anyways" she reasoned. Saitou nodded and sat back down in silence. After a few moments, the man heard a rustle in the branches and looked to see the girl had jumped down from her perch. She didn't even use her wings to break the fall and instead landed lightly on her feet beside the young man. Saitou noticed that unlike all of the other girls, she was dressed in normal attire, the same clothes she wore when on the airship fighting the demon. She looked to him and asked, "What's your name?" in a rather blunt manner.

"Saitou Hajime" he answered, eyes slightly wider than usual.

The girl nodded and replied, "Well Saitou, my name it Tsubasa Rintoki. You can call me Rin, everybody does. I hope you enjoy your stay on Nirvana". With that, Rin turned around and walked deeper into the shadows of the garden before she took to the air and flew away.

 **Yay! Chapter 3 is up! I apologize that it took so long. Once again, please review and I hope I see you again on the next addition of Song of the Seraph.**


	4. Chapter 4: Encounter

**Hello everyone! I apologize for the late chapter. My weekend was very busy and I wasn't in an area with internet access. I will try to upload chapters once every week but I don't know how well that will go so without further ado, may I present chapter 4 of Song of the Seraph.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hakuoki or any of its characters. Only the OC's are mine.**

Chapter 4: Encounter

Rin was flying around in the twilight sky, circling the perimeter of Nirvana. The young seraph always found that flying helped clear her thoughts when something was bothering her. She was still uneasy about the student council and her thoughts roamed back to her conversation with Umi and Chizuru in the kitchens.

* * *

"Are you really feeling alright?" Chizuru asked for the umpteenth time. The girls were sitting on some stools around a countertop. Rin was holding a glass of water but not drinking any of its contents. Concern was apparent on Chizuru's face but Umi looked like she was ready to hunt down anybody who would dare hurt her friend.

"I'm fine. Just not feeling well." Rin answered back, looking down at her glass.

Umi frowned. "I know you well enough to know when you're hiding something, Rintoki" the rouge chided. Umi always used Rin's full name when she was mad, greatly concerned or wanted to get a serious point across. "So hurry up and spit it out".

Rin remained quiet for a few more moments before speaking. "I feel uneasy about some of the students from Shieikan" she answered truthfully. "Some of them have been watching me since I went to the ships and just now, when they were entering the school grounds. Sorry if I sound conceded but I feel like they want something out of me" Rin explained, looking up from her glass to meet Umi and Chizuru's gazes.

Her friends nodded before Umi spoke up, "Don't worry about a thing, Rin. We will help you take care of it! I'll be on the lookout for anybody who seems to have something out for you" the girl promised, a determined look on her face. "This could be a lot of fun. Right, Chizuru?"

The Oni looked up, slightly startled. "U-um, y-yeah" she answered back, a little uncertain. The rouge took no mind to this and nodded her head, satisfied with the answer. There was no doubt in Rin's mind that Umi was planning to do something any rouge would do: Sneak around for answers.

"Well, for tonight to work, I need a drink. Earlier, I saw some sake stashed in that cabinet over there. You guys want some?" Umi offered. Chizuru shook her head no and Rin politely declined.

"Sorry, not tonight. Don't drink and fly" Rin told her. Umi shrugged and went to fetch the sake and Rin finished her water, got up and headed toward the back door. Chizuru looked up after her.

"Where are you going, Rin?" Chizuru asked. "Don't you want to join us for the banquette?".

Rin shook her head, "Sorry, I'm not hungry so I'll be headed back to my room to change. Thanks for everything you guys" She called back. After the girls bid each other 'good night', Rin went out the back doors of the kitchen and walked to the east dormitory to her room. She changed out of her beautiful dress and into the same clothes she wore earlier. Looking around her room, Rin noticed that her swords were leaned up against her wall where she left them earlier and decided to strap them on to her belt. The seraph always felt naked without them.

After that, Rin walked to her balcony and looked to the sky. The moon was still full and there were hardly any clouds, the wind was gentle and warm. _'What a perfect night to be in the gardens'._ Without a second thought, Rin jumped up to her balcony railing and leaped outwards to take to the sky and fly around to the front of the school. Her destination, the giant cherry blossom tree.

Rin quietly swooped down and landed on her favorite branch. She learned long ago how to avoid the many branches and could now land on just about any tree without hassle. Rin sat there alone for a few minutes, admiring the sky and how quiet it was. Of course, she could still hear all of the commotion that was happening inside of the building but the school walls did fairly well to block the sound. Her sanctum was disturbed after a few more moments when the girl heard a set of quiet footsteps making their way to her tree. Looking down, Rin saw a young man sit down on the bench positioned right underneath her, roughly 30 feet down.

From what the moonlight illuminated and with her sharp vision, Rin could see that the young man had black hair and a white scarf wrapped around his neck. He wore his hair in a tie that slightly drooped down his shoulder. The girl noticed with delight that the man wore his swords on his right side, meaning that he was one of the few swordsmen who were left handed, just like herself. As Rin admired the mystery man from her perch, he looked around, as if sensing another's presence and after a couple of seconds of scanning the gardens with a sharp gaze, he finally looked up to meet her eyes. They were deep blue, almost icy. _'What beautiful eyes'_ was the only thought that went threw her head.

Rin noticed that the man had a certain look in his face, as if he was concentrating or thinking. Anyone else would miss it but the slight way the man's eyes were narrowed were enough to tell Rin this. _'He must be one of those silent types'_ she concluded. Rin watched as the man quickly evaluated the tree she was sitting in and knew exactly what he was thinking. The young seraph knew from experience that this thousand year old cherry blossom tree was difficult to climb if you solely relied on the branches to lift yourself up. Thinking back to a time when Umi wanted to sit beside Rin on the same branch she was now on, the seraph watched as the rouge backed up and ran straight to the trunk of the tree. The girl had used the momentum to run vertically up the tree and leap from branch to branch and successfully sit next to her.

"Hello, nice night for a walk in the gardens, isn't it?" Rin called down, wanting to be polite and break the awkward silence. She saw that the man had given a slight nod to answer.

The girl continued to look at the man until the silence was broken by a question almost too quiet to hear. "How did you get up there?" he asked, more to himself than Rin. His voice was deep and quiet and Rin was surprised to know that she enjoyed the sound of it.

She noticed that she surprised him slightly by answering nonchalantly, "I flew up here. It's not that hard'. Rin took this moment to ruffle her feathers, catching his attention. The two students continued to evaluate each other for a while more until Rin noticed that the man's eyes widened and from what little light the moon gave, the girl noticed that he had a slight blush on his cheeks. He turned his head and averted his gaze. _'What is he blushing about? Having been caught staring at a girl?'_

The man spoke up again, "Please excuse me. I had not known that this spot was already taken". He stood up to leave. Rin found this odd. The mystery man had not bothered her in any way and Rin saw no reason for the man to leave.

She quickly called down from her branch, "You don't need to leave. There is plenty of space here and you won't find another bench under a different tree." This wasn't entirely true. The gardens were vast and there were plenty of other benches under less grand trees. Rin was trying to be considerate to her guest and let him stay and enjoy the view. No other bench in the gardens had a better view of the sky and gardens. View aside, all of the other spots were quite a distance away and although Rin had no doubt that the man could find his way back, she didn't want the guest to be hassled. "Besides, I was about to leave anyways". She saw that the man had nodded his head and sat back down.

After a few more moments of silence, Rin had enough of sky gazing and leaped down from her perch. The slight rustle of the branches was enough to catch the attention of the man on her way down. The seraph didn't even need to use her wings to break the fall. To Rin, jumping down from great heights was nothing. Once down, Rin looked at the man and asked him rather bluntly, "What's your name?". After all, it was considered a rude practice to not introduce yourself to someone you just met.

The man answered back, "...Saitou Hajime".

Rin nodded, thinking that the name suited him. She took this as a perfect opportunity to introduce herself, "Well Saitou, my name is Tsubasa Rintoki. You can call me Rin, everybody does. I hope you enjoy your stay on Nirvana". With that, Rin had nothing else to say so she turned and walked a short distance into the gardens before she flew away. Walking outwards was more out of consideration than necessity. The draft her wings would cause would buffer him for a few moments and she considered it a little rude.

* * *

Rin thought back to her last encounter with a student from Shieikan and chucked to herself. _'Saitou Hajime, huh. What an interesting man'_ Rin made one last loop around the island before finally flying back down to her balcony, landing gracefully. She stood there for a few moments, listening quietly. All of the noise from the banquette was gone and replaced with silence. _'Dinner's over'_ she thought. Like all of the other girls at Nirvana knew, the students from Shieikan Military Academy were staying in the West Dormitory while the girls stayed in the East. They were mostly used to house guests, be it the occasional visiting teacher or merchants whom the residents got their supplies from. The rooms in the West Dormitory were a little bigger than those of the East, so the students would have to share rooms with each other.

With the school slightly curved inwards, Rin could see lights still in use in some rooms and others, pitch black. But after a while, they all went off until the entire West side of the school was dormant, leaving a few lights still in use on the east side. Rin's room was dark, having never been lit in the first place and she soon decided to retire for the night and prepare for tomorrows festivities.

* * *

After his encounter with Rin, Saitou went back to the banquette after a few minutes in the gardens. He joined his friends who hadn't moved since he last saw them. The baka trio were still stuffing their faces and Okita was annoying Hijikata as usual. Yamazaki was eating quietly but was the first person to notice his friend's return.

"Saitou, you're back" Yamazaki greeted. The others looked up.

"What took you so long? Were you with a girl?" Okita teased. This caught the attention of everyone for a split second before they vetoed the thought. There was no reason for Saitou to be with a member of the opposite gender, even if he was at a school full of them. He held no interest in girls and devoted his time to practice his swordsmanship.

Saitou surprised everyone by answering, "Yes". He sat down on his seat and refilled his glass calmly, as if what he said wasn't of any significance. Okita, Heisuke, Sano and Shinpatchi all shared a look of shock, their mouths gaping, while Hijikata and Yamazaki had their eyebrows raised.

"Heh, for a moment there, I thought Saitou just made a joke" Sano said after a moment, surprisingly recovering from the shock first, before Okita. Saitou remained quiet and went back to eating, sparing no reaction to what his friend had said. That was all this friends needed to know that the stoic man was being completely serious.

"Oh? My young Hajime-kun is growing up into a man?" Okita said with a smirk, an eye raised. "And here I thought that even Heisuke would beat you to the punch".

"HEY!" Heisuke shouted while Shinpatchi and Sano erupted in laughter. The commotion caught the attention of quite a few people. Namely, the student council and some of the other students, both from Shieikan and Nirvana.

Saitou took this moment to look at the one empty seat at one of the girl's table. _Rintoki Tsubasa's seat._ He noticed that her friends were still seated next to the empty seat and saw that the girl with the sake, Umi, was stealing suspicious glances toward his table. _'She must be suspicious of us for asking about Tsubasa'_ Saitou thought. He turned his head to look at the front of the room and to his dismay, saw that Kazama Chikage was leering at the empty seat. _'What does he want with her'_ the man thought. He knew that it wasn't something good and his concern for the young winged girl grew.

Saitou, being a very observational, scanned the room one last time to try to pick up something that he may have missed. He saw that at the girl's tables, they were all chatting excitedly and stealing glances at the boy's tables, like all foolish girls do, and that at his table's, some of the students were doing the exact same thing the girls were doing, only more obvious.

The man then looked at the teacher's table. He saw that his headmaster was talking merrily with his staff and some of the staff of Nirvana but noticed something off. Headmistress Osen was looking down from where she sat and toward a table that Shieikan's students sat. Saitou followed her gaze and was somewhat surprised that the woman was looking at Kazama, who was in turn, still leering at the empty seat. As if sensing that someone was watching her, Madame Osen turned to look directly at Saitou, making eye contact. Saitou was about to look away when something stopped him, a feminine voice in his head.

 _"You seem to be a very observative, and trustful young man"_ it said. Saitou realized with a slight jolt that the person speaking was the headmistress herself. The voice droned out every other sound in the room so the stoic man could hear anything she said with clarity. _"I see that you have met one of our students, Rintoki Tsubasa"_ Headmistress continued. _"I would like you to do me a favor and keep an eye out for her and your student council, although, I can see that you're doing that already"_ Osen chucked. Saitou sat very still. He had turned back to face his table to remain inconspicuous but was paying full attention to the woman. He had no idea how the Madame knew of this but suspected that she had been watching them for quite awhile. From what Saitou knew or heard of the headmistress, she was a master in the magic arts so it didn't surprise him too much.

The voice disappeared and Saitou took one last look at the teacher's table and noticed that the headmistress was talking with his headmaster, striking up a conversation. The only staff member that was looking at him was whom Saitou suspected to be Osen's aid. She gave him one last knowing look and turned away, breaking the eye contact. _'They are hiding something'_ Saitou looked at his friends who continued to jest and give each other a hard time, oblivious to what had just happened.

Yamazaki glanced at him and noticed that Saitou's face was deep in thought. Usually, the stoic man was relaxed during their meals so his facial expression struck him as odd. Yamazaki did have a keen sense to notice when something was off and suspected that whomever Saitou encountered outside was the source of his stress.

After the banquette, Headmistress Osen stood up to make the final announcement of the night. "Students, please go straight to your dormitories and retire for the night. We will have more time to interact with each other later. Men, you will be staying in the West Dormitory. Your teachers will lead you there. Rest well and enjoy the rest of your stay". With that, everyone from Shieikan gradually stood up and followed their teachers to their dorms.

It turned out that a total of four people were to occupy a room due to their larger size. Hijikata, Okita, Saitou and Yamazaki occupied one room while the baka trio and their mutual friend Shimada Kai occupied another. Luckily, the rooms were besides each other so the friends could occupy each other's company for awhile longer.

Once in their room, the friends looked around. It was spacious and not cramped at all. There were two bunk beds, leaving a total of four beds, and a large window. So large, in fact, that Saitou suspected that someone could easily walk through it. There was a small ledge with a few flower pots carefully positioned on it. The room was furnished with cupboards, closets, a mirror, some wash basins, a large carpet and some shelves. Saitou walked on the wooden floors to a closet, putting his luggage away.

Okita whistled, "Nice place. Dibs on top bunk!" He quickly placed his belongings on a bed, claiming it.

Hijikata shook his head in exasperation, "Honestly, Souji... Yamazaki, you can have the other one. I would prefer not have a hassle in trying to get to bed".

Yamazaki agreed, "Of course" and quickly and nimbly leaped to the other top bunk.

The group quickly got ready for bed and relaxed. The room was quiet and dimmed of light. Unfortunately, the silence didn't last long when they heard a muffled scuffle on the other side of a wall. It was the wall that blocked their room from the baka trio's room.

 _THUMP_ "Ouch! Hey! I wanted the top bunk, Shinpat!" a voice that the group didn't doubt was Heisuke's. They heard what sounded like someone wrestling and a different voice answering the younger teen.

"You're too small to be able to reach the top, Heisuke. Besides, I can climb better than you" the voice, Shinpatchi's, irrationally reasoned. The rest of the argument was soon cut off by what sounded like a rather painful set of punches to the head.

"Knock it off, both of you" Sano chided, a little exasperated. "Heisuke, you take the top bunk and Shin, take the bottom. I don't want to hear a word from anyone of you".

The room was once more engulfed in silence, and this time, lasted the rest of the night. Only this time, Saitou did not, no, could not fall asleep quickly. He laid there, under Okita's bed and listened to his friends soft breathing. The man turned his head to look out of the large window to look at the sky for a last time. He admired the bright stars and what light the moon gave off when a flash of movement caught his eyes. A shape that blotted out the light of a couple of stars for a moment. It was gone, but soon returned after a few moments. Concentrating, Saitou looked closely, trying to decipher a silhouette of the object when he saw an almost white reflection of something. Instantaneously knowing what it was, the man laid back down and closed his eyes. _'She is still awake and flying this late at night, huh'_ The man drifted off into slumber.

 **And that is chapter 4! So now you know why Umi was suspicious of the men in the last chapter.  
** **What does Kazama want with Rin? And what does Osen and Kimigiku know about it? Find out later in the next couple of instalments of Song of the Seraph!  
Please leave a review. It really helps a lot! Have a great day everybody~** **-Yoronoko**


	5. Chapter 5: Morning Bliss

**Hello everyone! So I've been reading all of your reviews (thank you guys for them, I really appreciate it) and it seems like you guys liked my original story. Due to all of the positive comments, I've been thinking of revising it and posting it as a separate story in a later time. But for now, I plan on working on one story at a time. Once again, thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy the fifth instalment of the story, Song of the Seraph.**

Chapter 5: Morning Bliss

Rin was naturally an early riser, which was a little odd, considering that she enjoyed staying up late. The sun had yet to rise and the young seraph woke up in the waning dark. She left her warm bed and slowly got up, stretching. The hard wood floor of her bedroom was cold on contact, but she didn't mind too much. _'What a nice morning'_ Rin thought. She walked over to her balcony entrance, drew the long, deep blue curtains and opened the glass doors. Nirvana was quiet this morning, save for a few bird songs and a gentle breeze wafted into Rin's room, ruffling her already disheveled bed hair. The island was dark and dormant.

Looking towards the Western Dormitory, Rin saw that no lights filtered out of the windows. None of the visitors were awake yet. _'Time to get ready'_ Rin went back into her room but kept the balcony doors open, enjoying the early morning breeze and prepared her daily attire. She took her clothing with her and left her room, locking it behind her, to head toward the baths.

The hallways were always quiet this time of day. The lights were dimmed but provided enough light for an average person to find their way. Rin passed Umi's and Chizuru's rooms on her way to the baths. Their dorm's were located right next to each other, while Rin's was a few doors down the hall. Stopping at each door, Rin listened for any signs that her friends were awake. She only heard the faint noise of soft breathing. Satisfied, Rin walked on toward the baths. She didn't know when, but early in their friendship, Rin developed a sense of guardianship toward Umi and Chizuru. It must have been because she was always alone before she got to know them.

Being brought here, at Nirvana, during an early age in her life, Rin basically grew up on the island. The war between Demons and Seraphs did not come without a price and Rin, or rather, Headmistress Osen found the winged girl at the age of one orphaned and in a bloodstained cloth bundle with two swords at the doorsteps of her school. The girl didn't know who or what brought her here and asked the Madame many times whom did, but to no prevail, was told nothing. _'She knows who brought me here. Even if Madame Osen didn't see them, she would know about anything and anyone who enters Nirvana's barrier using her magic'_ Rin thought for years. But she held her tongue, grateful to the woman who took her in, didn't leave her at an orphanage, and taught her the ways of magic. _'There must be a very good reason she wont tell me. The time must not be right'_

Upon entry to the baths, Rin was greeted with hot steam and the sent of flora. No one had used the baths today nor was anybody currently in. The girl disrobed and set her things in her given locker. Then, she walked toward an already prepared bath and submerged herself completely under the surface. Many years ago, before the young seraph knew how to fly, the girl was afraid of getting her wings wet in fear of ruining them and being forever crippled to walk the land. Fortunately, Rin soon learned that her wings were waterproof, much like many birds. Any liquid that made contact with them rolled right off like beads thanks to some natural oils. It made flying through clouds all the more fun.

Rin stayed under the surface for a couple of minutes with her eyes open, enjoying the warmth. Her larger lungs allowed her to hold her breath for greater amounts of time and her second transparent set of eyelids protected her eyes from debris while flying, although, they did have their other usages, like now for example. She stayed under until her lungs were burning for air and reemerged to the surface, wading over to where all of the soaps and oils were kept.

Once done with her morning ritual, Rin quickly dried off and dressed again. Towel around her shoulders, Rin walked back to her room slowly, taking her time. She was in no rush and was technically ahead of schedule. The girls who were assigned morning duty were starting to rise and luckily, it wasn't Rin's turn today. She had roughly five hours of leisure time to spare, considering that it was now 6:00.

This time, as Rin passed her friends doors while walking to her dormitory, she didn't stop knowing that Chizuru was assigned morning duty and Umi wasn't, meaning that she would sleep in till noon. _'I'll have to wake her an hour early. Hopefully, the window was left unlocked, like I asked'_ Rin thought to herself. As a rouge, Umi was a very secure person when it came to protecting her personal items. Her door alone had six different locks which all had different keys and her room was adorned with traps be it tripwires or flying knives. _'I can't even begin to comprehend how in the world Umi found the time and space to set everything up. Her room has to be in a direct violation of the dorm rules'_ Rin thought on occasion.

The girl suddenly remembered a time when she and Chizuru had gone to wake their friend up years prior. Umi had neglected to tell her friends of the hazards, probably because she had just learned how to make efficient traps the day before, and Chizuru unknowingly had set one off, activating a set of razor sharp knives that fell from the celling. Luckily, Rin had quick reflexes and pulled the oni out of harms way. After the hour of harsh lectures that consisted of "What the hell is wrong with you!?" from Rin and a much more censored version from Chizuru, the friends learned that Umi had a passion for the Rouge class. Mutually agreeing that Umi had a true knack for it, the seraph and the oni encouraged their friend to pursue that line special arts, on two conditions. _"The window stays trap free and unlocked and the hour you set up a new surprise, you tell us, got it?"_ Rin told Umi all those years ago. Umi had ultimately agreed. The rouge's room had had a few minor traps when she first developed the passion to make them but after years past and became the present, the traps became more advanced and deadly. They were masterfully concealed in the walls and on first glance, even a trained eye wouldn't know that they were there. _'How she can still call that place a 'room' is beyond me'_ Rin thought to herself while walking past Umi's room. Unfortunately, it would have been better for the seraph to check that particular room and see if the rouge was sleeping in, considering the amount of trouble that she would soon cause.

By the time Rin got back to her room, doors were opening, revealing the girls assigned to morning duty. The girl bid good morning to the friendly faces and unlocked the door to her room, going inside. Shutting the door behind her, Rin walked toward the wall she always set her swords on and strapped them to her belt. The sheaths resembled glassy obsidian. There were small feathers slightly imprinted on them and designed in a way which made them look as though they were gently floating down. The handles were black but only the katana had a red string tied to the end. When unsheathed, the blades had a vine like pattern which ran down the medal but gathered at one spot near the base. It was a common practice to imprint Demon metal but uncommon to have an almost scenic design. Usually, there were small faces of demons, family crests, mottos, or names imprinted on the blades instead. The metal was almost silver in color and gave off and unearthly glow.

They were Rin's most prize possessions.

And the only clue she had of her past.

Once securely tide on, Rin walked over to her mirror and looked herself over. Deeming her appearance acceptable, she went to her still open balcony and got up on the metal railing. The sun was just starting to rise and chase the night away. _'Right on time'_ the seraph thought. Rin had plans today and no matter how fast she could fly, had to get a move on. Rin stretched out her wings, letting them catch the breeze and fell forward only to glide up again. She quickly rose over the island, and giving it one last look turned away and flew south toward the gale mountains.

Little did she know that she was being watched by more than one pair of eyes, bipolar by color. A set of crimson red and a pair of ice blue.

 **Hello everyone! I apologize for the short chapter and how anticlimactic it was but because the main character of this story is an OC, I feel it is important to know about their behaviors, characteristics and inner thoughts to get a greater understanding of them since we already know the personalities of the original Hakuoki characters. I don't know if there is going to be another chapter like this but safe to assume that yes, there is. I will try to switch the PoV's often and keep the dialogue between the characters as realistic and persona true as possible. If I start to go astray, please feel free to tell me that. Any help is much appreciated.**

 **Just so you know:** **The Gathering is going to last a couple of days so the characters can build a relationship between each other and yes, it is very important for the future. I'm trying to make the first couple of chapters as light hearted as I can and gradually make them more serious and dire in the future. The festival is very important for it.  
There will be events in the festival, of course, and more interactions between Saitou and Rin before it is over. **

**Please bear with me until the story gets more interesting! Thank you very much for your patience!  
** **-Yoronoko**


	6. Chapter 6: Morning Visits

**loDisclaimer: I do not own Hakuoki or any of it's characters. Only the OC's are mine.**

Chapter 6: Morning Visits

As a military academy, Shieikan students were expected many things. One of which, was to rise with the sun to prepare for the day. However due to the Gathering, the students were granted a resting period. There were no duties or classes to attend to and they were guests to one of the most prestigious schools in the world. But, this didn't stop one of the most disciplined young men to wake up as the sun rose.

Saitou opened his eyes to be greeted by the dark. His companions were still resting and breathing softly. Quietly, the young man drew his blankets aside and got out of bed to get prepared for the day. Saitou got up and stretched then walked over to his belongings to retrieve a set of clean clothing. Looking behind him, the man saw that his companions were still asleep and he left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

The students of Nirvana posted maps of the school out of courtesy and Saitou walked up to one and sought out the West Dormitories' baths which were located at the very end of the hallway. Looking at the map Saitou noticed that the bath room alone took up a substantial amount of space. _'Originally as a school for girls, whom take hygiene seriously, the baths are most likely as grand as the map portrays'_ the man thought to himself while walking down the hall. Upon entry, Saitou's vision was clouded by hot steam which smelled of a plethora of oils, be it flora or something a little more masculine. After finding an appropriate place to set his belongings, the swordsman quickly bathed, admiring the space, tiles and pale colors of the room. He left the bathhouse quickly after, never being one to doddle.

After bathing, the man returned to his room and retrieved his swords which he left on a designated stand. He saw that his friends had yet to rise and left his room once more to seek the privacy of the gardens. Saitou always preformed his katas in solitude and tried to avoid any attention, preferring it that way. Finding the nearest staircase that lead to the first story, Saitou left the building not noticing the shadow that hid in the hallways of the West Dormitory.

Walking around the gardens, Saitou saw that the sun had risen a little higher in the sky, dawning. He continued to walk around the gardens, searching for a suitable place, when a slight flutter of movement caught his eye. He looked up at the building and saw that the curtains of a balcony had been drawn aside and there emerged Rintoki Tsubasa. _'She likes to wake up early as well?'_ the man thought. Looking at her face, Saitou could tell that she was thinking about something. Her eyes were focused on something far away, too far to see. The stoic man watched the seraph as she stood on the balconies' edge, stretched out her wings and free fell to the ground for only a second before she glided upwards.

Due to his position behind the shrubs of the garden, Rin would have never seen the man standing there observing her. Saitou watched the girl fly off towards the southern horizon until she could no longer be seen by the naked eye. _'I wonder where she's going so early in the morning? It must be of somewhat importance if she would leave on the day when the festival would soon begin'_

After Rin disappeared from view, Saitou proceeded to preform his katas as he did every morning. The man always took swordsmanship very seriously and never let up an opportunity to strengthen his skills. Although he wasn't hitting anything, Saitou's strikes were fast and powerful. So much so that any onlooker would pity the person up against him. The only person who would be appropriate as an opponent would be Saitou's friend, Okita Souji. Their skills were on par with each other and they often sparred, trying to get the better of the other.

By the time Saitou was done with his morning exercise, the sun had risen completely and the man had suspected that the students were beginning to rise. On his way back to the Western Dormitory, he passed a couple of girls preforming their morning duties, idly chattering. The shadows in the hallways were now gone to be replaced by the morning light and Saitou saw that the school building was a very open and bright place. The windows were large and took up nearly half of the walls, if not more.

As he approached his dormitory, the stoic man heard a commotion in the baka trio's room which wasn't at all surprising or alarming but when the trio exited their room and went next door to his shared room, the man knew that something was wrong.

Sano noticed Saitou approaching them and quickly called out, "Oh Saitou, just the person I wanted to see. Did you notice anybody suspicious in the halls earlier this morning? Some of Heisuke's things are missing and we know that someone took them".

Saitou shook his head 'no' and looked at Heisuke who was nocking at the door. His face was that of panic and distraught. Curious to know what exactly was stolen from his friend, Saitou caught Heisuke's attention by asking him, "What went missing?".

The nocking stopped and Heisuke turned and looked at the stoic man, finally noticing his presence. Just then, the door was opened by a rather pissed looking Okita. If looks could kill, that was the expression the man had. "Heisuke, the door was unlocked. Now it better be something important or I'll kill ya" the man said, irritated.

"MY SWORDS, SOUJI! WHERE DID YOU PUT MY SWORDS!" the youngest member of the group shouted at the green eyed man. Heisuke's chest was heaving and you could tell that he was beyond mad.

Okita's expression however, morphed from that of pissed to amused in a second. "Lost your swords already have you, Heisuke? Well that was fast" the green eyed man mused.

This only proceeded to anger the young man even more however, and he soon shouted back, "IT'S NOT FUNNY SOUJI! NOW GIVE THEM BACK!". Saitou, Sano and Shinpatchi watched the exchange quietly. None of them believed that Souji would take something as important as his friends' swords for a mere prank. Hijikata's haiku book, however, was a different story.

By now, all of the commotion had woken up Hijikata, Yamazaki and a few other of their classmates in different dorms. With a few complaints that went a little something like "Hey keep it down! People are trying to sleep!" or "Shut the hell up, dumbass!", Heisuke soon quieted down and calmed himself a little. He looked at the Okita, whom was still standing at doorway of his dorm, expectantly.

"I don't have your swords, Heisuke. I didn't even enter your guy's room yet" Okita explained seriously. Hijikata had gotten up along with Yamazaki and were standing behind him, rather annoyed at being woken up so violently. Yamazaki, however, hid his look of annoyance much better than Hijikata, who had a vein popping in his forehead. They heard most of the commotion earlier and could piece together what had happened.

"Then who did? They even went into the trouble of looking into my belongings. Didn't take anything though, only made a mess" Heisuke explained. The group frowned at the information, trying to think of anybody who would look through the belongings of their friend and take his swords. Heisuke was a well liked person in the school. As a very kind and open student, the young man had a knack of making friends quickly and the friends could think of no one as a culprit.

The thoughtful silence that the group was in was soon disturbed by a student that the group knew might do something like this: Kazama Chikage. "Toudou, for disturbing the peace in the dorms, you can be _cited_ " the blond man threatened with a sneer. Heisuke's day was beginning to be a very bad one.

The intrusion of the student council president upset everyone. As a person of reason as well as someone who would hate Kazama till hell freezes over, Hijikata took command of the situation by moving past Okita to face the blond haired man. "Heisuke may have been loud this morning but even _you_ do not have the authority to cite him in another's school". The event of the Gathering relinquished the duties as well as the responsibilities of the students of Shieikan. They were only guests to the island. "The only people who can are either the Headmaster, the Headmistress or the original students who attend this school, Kazama" Hijikata said in a commanding tone. He was right, of course, but that did not mean that Kazama would take well to being undermined.

"Ugh, Bastard" Kazama cursed under his breath, surely remembering to make their school life a living hell when they returned to Shieikan. Heisuke, Sano and Shinpatchi had a smug look on their faces and Okita smirked. Yamazaki and Saitou however, were careful to keep their faces void of emotion. "I will be reporting this to the Headmaster" the oni threatened.

"I didn't think that he was being a disturbance at all" a new voice spoke up. All of the men looked at the newcomer and were a little surprised to see the girl from yesterday's banquette, Chizuru Yukimura. She held a broom in her hands and the group immediately guessed that she had a cleaning duty this morning. She stepped forward to face the red eyed man with confidence, although the effect was a little short lived when the girl's head barley reached the man's shoulders. Try as she might, Chizuru could never have an intimidating effect on someone like Kazama but, her efforts clearly showed that a representative of Nirvana was not at all bothered by Heisuke's disturbance.

"I-I mean, I see no reason for you to cite him. He wasn't doing anything w-wrong" Chizuru spoke up again, her confidence beginning to dwindle.

Outnumbered, Kazama turned and left the group's presence with a scowl on his face "You'll regret this".

A short pause followed, and Chizuru found herself being surrounded and thanked.

"Chizuru, right? Thank you so much! I don't know what would have happened if you didn't show up" Heisuke said with a grin, probably thinking of Headmaster Kondo's earlier threat to throw students off the islands' edge.

Surprised, Chizuru's eyes widened and she began to stutter even more, "Eh? N-no, I-I didn't do anything!" she fidgeted.

"No, you did plenty" Shinpatchi spoke up with a grin. The others nodded in agreement while the action only caused the girl to blush and fidget even more.

"So what are you doing here, Chizuru?" Sano asked after the commotion.

She looked up to meet his gaze, "I have morning duty in the West Dormitory today. That's the only reason I'm here this morning. So when I heard how upset Heisuke-kun was, I came here to see what was bothering him" the girl explained.

"Well, it was a good thing you did too. By the way, did you see anybody carrying a pair of swords on your way here? It's really important" Heisuke asked urgently.

The girl thought for a moment, "Umm, no, I haven't. Why? Did your swords go missing!? Technically, none of us are aloud to carry weapons in the building but that rule goes ignored by everyone" Chizuru answered. Disappointed by the answer, Heisuke seemed to slump even further. This didn't go unnoticed by the oni girl and she quickly replied, "But I'm sure you'll find them! I'll keep an eye out for anybody suspicious!" Chizuru promised, the determined look back in her eyes.

The teen seemed to perk up at this and his usual smile was back in it's place. "Thanks Chizuru" Heisuke said.

The others nodded, "Well, you probably have a lot to do this morning and we have to start getting ready" Hijikata said. Chizuru nodded her head and did a short bow before she turned to leave down the hall.

"Oh, wait! Before you go, what time does breakfast start?" Shinpatchi asked eagerly, his eyes lighting up along with Heisuke's.

Chizuru thought for a moment, "In an hour or so. The others are preparing it now so please wait for a while". With that, the group bid their goodbyes to the girl and they went their separate ways to prepare for the day.

* * *

Rin had been flying for an hour at her fastest speed. She cut through the air like an arrow in silence, high in the sky. Her destination: The Gale Mountains. While Rin was growing up, she learned of her people's demise early in her life. Upset, the young girl devoted her time in the library, trying to learn of anything she could. Inconveniently of course, all of the books on the Seraph race were taken off the shelves, save for the few books on their magic's, be it purification rituals or advanced spells, or their healing practices.

When the young Rintoki confronted the Headmistress of the matter, she was told that she would learn at another time and that right now, at the age of 7, she was not ready to learn of what had happened. It was then that Rin had developed an early respect toward Osen's assistant, Kimigiku, when she had secretly whispered into the girl's ear that while all of the pure blooded Seraph were gone, there were a few mixed blooded colonies of the people whom lived in solitude, high in the mountains.

Inspired, Rin then tried to find anybody who knew of the colonies and in the past 5 years, found one small village with a substantial amount of mixed blooded seraph in the Gale mountains.

The journey from Nirvana to the Gale mountains took a little more than an hour to complete and now, Rin was very close to her destination. With her advanced eyesight, she could see the little rooftops sticking out of the forest canopy, lazy trails of smoke rising from the chimneys. In a few minutes, Rin had circled the area and gently landed a little ways outside of the village. She never entered the village with her wings exposed. Having as little as half the blood of pureblooded seraph, and a select old few, half, the people of the village didn't have most of the traits a pure blooded seraph does. While some tend to have better eyesight than the average human, could run at faster speeds, or healed faster, others had physical characteristics like the pale skin, small lean bodies and bright, unorthodox colored eyes, such as Rin's topaz.

The only characteristic that they could never have, however, were the wings.

That was one of the reasons exactly why Rin never entered the village directly. She always took the time to hide her wings with magic. Chanting under her breath, Rin began her spell. The magic she used to hide her wings dealt with space and the common person's perspective. She folded her wings in and soon, a dim, misty light engulfed them. The air around Rin's back became distorted and pretty soon, her wings disappeared from sight. Although they were still technically there, the young seraphs' wings were not at the same time. If you waved your hand behind her, it would not run into anything. Her wings were in a slight rift in space, of sorts.

While it didn't take much energy, Rin always found it a bother. She never liked to keep her wings bound because it made her feel trapped, like she couldn't escape immediately if she needed to. But when Rin visited the village, she hid her wings out of courtesy, learning that a large majority of the villagers were a little jealous of her wings.

With her back now exposed, Rin pulled out a tan cloak from her bag she kept on her lower back and draped it over her. Now prepared to enter the village, Rin walked into the territory. Of course, she was greeted with the few, hello's of the villager's. Her presence did not, could not, go unnoticed. The girl knew that she had been spotted while descending. It wasn't that hard to notice a winged being landing near the area and with the few who had better eyesight, Rin knew that she had been spotted a little sooner than it would have took with an average human village.

Walking through the middle of the village, Rin saw that the village had grown some since her last visit. Children ran and played in the grass, only to stop and look at her with wide eyes. Those who knew who she was however, quickly dropped whatever they were carrying and ran up to greeted the girl with smiles and questions like, "Hi Rin! Long time no see! Did you bring us anything?"

Rin of course, always brought something a little new and from her bag and a smile, withdrew three demon steel daggers. _'The perfect gift. They would need to know how to defend themselves once they become older'_ While some of the children's parents frowned upon the gifts, others were a little surprised and grateful for the thought. Demon steel was of the highest quality of material and as a small secluded village in the mountains, tools such as this were hard to come by. Besides, by some of the villager's standers, daggers were a much more... _manageable_ gift then what Rin had gotten them last time.

"WOW! THANKS RIN!" one of the children, Kanuri, exclaimed. He had the biggest grin on his face, ocean blue eyes twinkling. Rin smiled and handed them the daggers.

"Hey you guys. Everyone behaving? How is Doggy doing?" Rin asked with a grin. The children who recognized her immediately answered with "Yes!" while the children who didn't know who Rin was walked a little closer to get a better view of the blades and the stranger. The children answered her other question with a lot more enthusiasm. Comments like, "He likes to go deeper in the forest now!" or "He can't fit in his home anymore so we found a close cave for him" and even, "This one time, Doggy brought back a fully grown dire bear in his _teeth_! It was huge!"

"Did he now? Wow, Doggy is a lot bigger than when I first brought him then, huh" Rin commented enthusiastically. Her words were answered with proud nods and grins. "Alright, go off and play now. Be careful with those daggers, they're sharp". As the children ran off towards the field, Rin turned and walked towards the Elder's house at the end of the road. She passed some people on her way and while some of the villagers smiled and greeted her, others turned and looked away with narrowed eyes.

Normally, Rin didn't care what people thought of her but when it was done from the villagers whom she supposedly shared blood with, it hurt. _'I guess I don't belong here either, huh'_ The girl thought to herself. While Rin didn't consider herself alone in this world, she didn't exactly feel as if she belonged. She didn't know what happened to her biological family and she had no idea where the seraph homeland was. So in a way, being rejected by the some of the villagers here reminded her that she had no true place to call _home._ Rin couldn't live at Nirvana forever, she had to move on once she graduated the academy.

Quickly shaking the depressing thoughts from her head, Rin walked up the wooden building and nocked on the door. She didn't have to wait long when her request for entry was answered with a raspy "Come in". Opening the door and entering the building, Rin saw that the interior hadn't changed a bit. The room was dim and filled with the smoke of incense. In the middle of the room, a fire pit and in front of it, sat an old, wrinkled and _greatly_ bearded man. His head was down as he concentrated on stirring a pot of what looked to be soup on the fire.

"Honestly, Jiji" Rin scolded, closing the door behind her to open the many windows instead. "You shouldn't keep yourself locked up in here without the window's open. With the way you burn incense, you'll damage your lungs if not already".

The old man chuckled, his small form always hidden with a large, billowy priests' cloak, shaking. "Ah, Rintoki. As spirited as ever I see".

"Hmm" Rin answered though she knew that the elder, Sasayota Ryuji, could no longer see and has in fact, not been able to in the last 10 or so years, as far as she knew. Now, with the windows open, Rin was surprised to see a fine layer of dust had covered the floor.

"Jiji! How could you live in conditions like this?" The girl shouted, looking around the building for a broom.

She was answered with a cheeky, "Like what?" which only angered the girl more. The soup was done and the man had knowingly grabbed a bowl to his right and filled it. Although he was blind, the elder was not as handicapped as some people might think.

Rin found her broom and set it against the wall. She got up and gently ushered the old man outside to the porch where a wooden bench sat.

"Here, stay outside while I clean" the girl ordered. The man nodded happily and began eating his meal. _'Honestly, how dare they treat an elder like this?'_ the girl thought. She removed her cloak and draped it over the man then reentered the building and began cleaning.

"So, what is the reason for your visit?" Sasayota asked, slurping his soup.

"Just checking up on you" Rin answered back from the building."I'm glad I did too. I'll have to teach those idiots a lesson". You could hear the angry _sweep_ of her broom.

"Oh? Why would you visit at such a busy time with the Gathering and all?" the old man asked. Rin didn't know how, but there was no way you could hide anything from Jiji. Blind as a bat and living in a very secluded village didn't stop the old man from knowing what was happening in the outside world.

Rin's sweeping stopped and she paused before finally answering, "The secret of my origins are bothering me" the girl asked truthfully. The pause lasted for a little longer before Rin began cleaning again.

"You ask the same thing with each visit. Rin, you know that I can't give you the answers" Sasayota answered, finishing his soup and sitting quietly.

"You say the same thing as Madame Osen" the girl called out glumly. "You're not ready. The time will come when I will tell you but not yet" Rin quoted.

The man answered quietly, "That's because you are not".

"Then when will I be? When I graduate and have nowhere to go?" Rin said quietly. She had finished cleaning the home now and went outside and sat next the wizened old man.

"I know you want answers and they will be provided to you. Just be patient for a little longer" Sasayota promised. They sat there in silence for a few more minutes until Rin and the elder stood up. The old man handed back the seraph's cloak and Rin took it, draping it over herself. She led the man back inside and gently sat him down on his mat, rekindling the fire to keep him warm and lighting another incense stick.

Although nothing was said between the two, Sasayota knew that Rin had to leave soon. The visits never lasted long.

"Take care of yourself, Jiji" Rin called back at the door. "And make those ungrateful idiots clean your house from time to time".

The old man merely grunted in response and Rin left the house, closing the door behind her. She walked down the porch steps and down the well trodden dirt. The children had run off and the adults were off toiling. Rin walked back the way she had come into the dense forest. Making sure that no one was around, Rin removed her cloak and stuffed it back into her bag. She undid her spell and her wings reappeared with a shine of light.

As she was about to take off, a voice behind her stopped her. "You're leaving? But you just got here. You haven't even seen Doggy yet" Rin turned around and saw Kanuri behind her. His voice held slight disappointment but his eyes were wide. Although everyone in the village knew of Rin being a full blooded seraph, they rarely got to see her wings.

"Yeah, sorry Kanuri but I have to go now" Rin told the boy. He nodded.

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know yet. When I get the time. You can show me Doggy then, right?" Rin said gently. He nodded and backed away from her. Rin waved goodbye and took off, quickly rising to the sky.

In a matter of seconds, Rin had a good bird's eye view of the village. She circled the area once before turning back north to head to Nirvana when she had to pause and look at a great rustle in the forest which caught her attention. Even from her distance, Rin could hear the great groaning from an ancient tree. It bent but didn't break from a great weight and from it's canopy, a head emerged. It was a reptile like head with blue/green scales and Rin knew that it had seen her. She didn't worry though. Doggy would never hurt her or anybody in the village.

Rin waved at the dragon and flew back to Nirvana, hearing a roar to send her off.

 **Chapter 6 is up! Sorry that the events of the Gathering haven't happened yet but I promise you that in the next chapter, it will. Please stick with me until then! Thank you for reading and have a great day!**


	7. Chapter 7: Alliances

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hakuoki or its character's. Damn it. Only the OC's and Nirvana are mine.**

Chapter 7: Alliances

A few hours earlier...

 _'Just a little further now'_ Umi thought to herself. The rouge was silently crouching through the corridors in the shadows. She had woken up early this morning with a mission. Operation: Find out as much information having to do with the man who made Rin uncomfortable. Little did she know, Umi had gotten the wrong person. _'Why would he be watching us when we left the crowed last night and why would he ask for Rin at the banquette'_ Umi thought to herself. _'He has to be the man Rin was talking about earlier. After all, he does look like a weirdo who would do something like that. Just check out his hair'_

Umi crept up the hallways, her targeted room in sight. Earlier, she had snuck into the accountant's office to find out what rooms the student's were assigned. Although you wouldn't think it, Umi had excellent memory. She instantly found her target's name, Toudou Heisuke, and immediately replaced the list back where she found it. Now at the door, Umi held her breath and listened. The list had said that there were four people sharing the room so Umi would have to be extra cautious. As a human, Umi didn't have the advanced senses that her friends shared. However, she made up for that with her observation skills.

Although the door muffled it, Umi could clearly hear four sets of soft breathing, a sign that the inhabits were still asleep. She then withdrew her lock picking kit, a present from her older brothers, and set out to work. It didn't take more than five seconds to pick the lock, and as soon as it was done, Umi silently opened the door and stepped inside. She wore all black; a mask that covered half her face, a shirt, pants, leather gloves, enchanted leather boots and black leather belts which held all of her weapons and tools. Umi didn't know what she would do without her gear but she did know one thing. She wouldn't have it without Rin having bought the silent material and Chizuru who made the garb.

With it on, Umi was nothing more than a shadow.

Leaving the door open by a crack for an escape route, Umi silently stepped further inside the large room. It was dark, the sun had yet to rise and for the naked eye, it would be almost impossible for Umi, a human, to see. However, due to the Deep Stones that are embedded into the top of the gloves, they absorbed sunlight and a simple spell focused them into the wielder's eyes. _'If you can't use magic, get magical things and someone else to put spells on them'_ Umi thought while silently thanking Rin and Chizuru again. Along with her gloves, Umi's boots allowed her to walk in complete silence, even while running. And as an added bonus, they couldn't leave any footprints, be it in dust, mud or snow making them the perfect tools for sneaking.

Umi didn't spend a lot of time in the room. She easily found her target's belongings and shuffled through them, not caring that she made a mess. _'Serves that creep right'_ she thought. Surprisingly, even though there were some things that were considered valuable in Heisuke's bag, they were not what Umi wanted to take. Growing up in the environment she had, Umi knew that valuable things weren't as valuable as things that were sentimental.

She quickly abandoned the bag and looked at the two swords that were positioned right under it. Umi looked at the handles, noting that they were worn but still kept in great condition, and that the sheathes were in similar condition. _'These are his most prized possessions'_ Without a second thought, Umi took them and left the room, locking the door behind her.

From the swords, Umi hoped to learn as much as she could of the man as possible. _'You can learn a lot from person just by evaluating their prized possessions'_ her mother used to say. But in order to do that, Umi would have to go to the smithy, which was closed at this time of day. _'Sauna would be livid if I woke her up at this time of day. I'll have to wait after breakfast to ask her of the swords origins'_

The hallways were still dark and Umi stuck close to the shadows as she was walking back to her room. During this time of day there should have been nobody wandering the halls. However on her way to her room, Umi had to stop and hide in the shadows when a student of Shieikan walked past her. Umi recognized him from the banquette as the man called Saitou Hajime. _'Why is he up so early in the morning?'_

The rouge stayed still and let the man pass having gone unnoticed. She stayed still for a few moments more before sneaking back to her room. _'I'll have to keep these in my room before I can ask Sauna about them and that would have to wait after breakfast. Hope you don't miss your swords too much, buddy'_ Umi thought as she crept away in the shadows.

* * *

When Rin had returned to Nirvana, she instantly went to Umi's room to wake the supposedly sleeping rouge up. Carefully knocking on the half hazardous door in the sequence Umi had taught herself and Chizuru, Rin called out, "Umi, it's time to get up!"... silence. _'That's weird. Umi always wakes up whenever anybody knocks on her door or gets too close to her while sleeping'_ She tried again. "Umi, you're going to miss breakfast if you sleep in!". _'That usually works'_ But there was no answer. _'She must already be awake then, weird considering that she likes to sleep in'_ Rin shrugged and walked to the Great Hall, expecting to see her friends already there.

When she entered the Great Hall, she was assaulted with the delicious scents of a wide variety of breads, jams, fruits and a mild arrangement of vegetables and meat, making her mouth water instantaneously, which of course, was a given. Rin was famished having not eaten at all yesterday or today. Immediately she spotted her friends, Chizuru and a very awake Umi, and made her way to them.

" 'Morning you guys" the seraph greeted. Her friends looked her way and greeted her as well.

"Good morning, Rin!" Chizuru greeted. "Did you sleep well?" Rin nodded and sat down. She immediately grabbed a plate and began to fill it with her favorite breads, fruits and some meat.

Umi looked her way, hoping to tell her friend that she had somewhat taken care of the Creepy Guy when the rouge stopped and noticed that Rin was in her traveling clothes, armed, and her hair was disheveled by what was most likely the wind.

"Where did you go so early in the morning, Rin?" Umi asked, curious.

Rin stopped eating and swallowed to answer her. "I went to the village and visited Jiji. As always, he didn't say anything" Umi and Chizuru nodded in understanding. They knew of Rin's predicament and wished to help their friend anyway they could but for now, the only thing they could offer was moral support.

"How is Sasayota-san doing?" Chizuru asked. Rin bristled at the question, remembering the condition that Jiji was living in.

"The stupid villagers aren't taking care of a blind old man" she answered briskly. "His house was all dusty and it looks like nobody is going and visiting him. I think that the villagers are trying to change their lifestyle even if that means to abandon those who still respect what little culture was passed down by their seraph origins. They aren't respecting the old ways anymore"

A silence followed after. Chizuru looked dejected but Umi was thoughtful and broke the silence. "But the old ways aren't the problem, are they?" she asked.

Rin shook her head, "No they aren't. I've already learned all I could of the seraph culture from them and I couldn't care less if they want to change the way they live. The problem is that they won't take care of a blind, ornery old man" she finished. The three friends didn't speak for a while and Rin began to eat again but this time, less enthusiastically. Chizuru and Umi remained silent and followed suit, finishing their meal.

"Are you going to visit more often, Rin?" Chizuru asked quietly.

Rin finished her meal and thought for a while, "If I find the time. I'll have to get the children to take care of him for me when I'm not there" Chizuru nodded.

Trying to change the subject to something that was a little less depressing, Umi spoke up and started on the subject that she wanted to talk about for a while. "So... Rin," the seraph looked up. "I've kinda taken care of the creeper that's been bothering you. In a few hours, we'll know a bit more information about him" Umi said a little enthusiastically.

Rin frowned, "Um, Umi? I don't think I've ever pointed out the person to you yet. How did you get the guy?" she asked a little worried. _'What did Umi do this time?'_

"Don't worry about a thing. Yesterday at the banquette, the creeper was asking for you and it turns out that he was the one watching us while we went to the kitchens." At this, Chizuru's eyes widened. _'Wasn't that Heisuke? Was Umi the one who took Heisuke's swords!?'_

Rin was still a little doubtful and quickly asked her friend, "Point him out for me, would you?". Umi nodded and complied. They turned in their seats and the rouge pointed out a person whom Rin had never seen before. He had a long pony tail and looked very upset about something. Rin was a little surprised to see Saitou sitting close to him, seemingly in the same group of friends.

"Oh no... Umi, you got the wrong person". At this the rouge tilted her head in question. Rin explained further, "The creeper was the student council president, over there" she directed their gaze to the opposite end of the room and pointed out a blond haired, red eyed man who quickly adverted his gaze, having been caught staring at the seraph.

Umi's face was neutral, seemingly unfazed by finding out that she had gotten the wrong target. Chizuru sighed. "Umi," the oni said quietly, "I was on cleaning duty this morning and met that man again. He seems like a very nice person but he was very upset that his swords were gone" Chizuru told her friend.

"I was going to give his swords back. Just after I got them inspected by Sauna" Umi said calmly. Rin sighed and seemed more fatigued. The friends sat at the table quietly; Rin being tired, Chizuru nervous and worried for her friend, and Umi sitting very comfortably. Being raised in the environment Umi had grown up in, thievery wasn't uncommon and was in fact a common occurrence. So in her case, it wasn't odd for Umi to seem like she had no guilty conscious by the fact that she had gotten the wrong target. Umi was desensitized to acts of thievery and her friends knew that.

"Umi" Rin addressed the girl with her eyes closed, "You might quickly want to put the swords back while everybody is here and before the festival officially starts" the seraph suggested knowing that a formal apology wasn't going to go well in Umi's case.

The rouge nodded, "Alright. I was going to do that in the first place so 'now or never' right?". Rin nodded and Umi got up and left the Great Hall casually earning herself no second glances.

Once Umi left, Rin turned to a still dejected looking Chizuru. "You going to tell him what happened?" the seraph asked, knowing that her friend was an honest soul.

Chizuru shook her head no. "I know that Umi made an honest mistake and that it really isn't her fault that she has those kinds of tendencies". Rin could only nod her head in agreement. _'The events of your past shapes you to be the person you are now'_ the seraph thought to herself. _'In this case, that saying really defines Umi, considering all she went through. I hope that someday she can learn to loosen up...'_

While waiting for the rouge to return, Rin and Chizuru made idle conversation between themselves or their surrounding classmates. No matter what the original topic of the conversation was, it always steered to the unknown event which would begin after breakfast. Even though the Gathering was taking place at Nirvana, everyone was left in the dark to the events which would soon transpire. There was extra care taken so that nobody would have an unfair advantage. Now, everyone was biding their time for the announcement from the headmasters.

Rin and Chizuru didn't have to wait long for their friend to return. Umi was back by their side in a matter of minutes with her usual expression of accomplishment on her face, a smirk. Umi sat back down in her seat and before anybody could ask her anything, she quickly said, "Don't worry, I put them back in a place where he can find them".

Rin nodded and Chizuru thanked the girl. "No problem" was all the rouge said before the room was silenced by someone clinking their fork against a glass, making a clear ringing sound. The entire room looked up to see both Headmistress Osen, holding the fork and glass, and Headmaster Kondo standing with his hands behind his back at the teachers' table. It was time for the announcement.

* * *

"Man that's so disappointing!" Heisuke complained loudly in the hallway. Breakfast was over and the revelation of today's events were made. Now everybody were walking back to their dorms to prepare. The event would start in 30 minutes from now. "I mean, the festival is supposed to be exciting! And the first events are to WALK through Nirvana's forest!? What's so exciting about that?"

"It's more complicated than that, Heisuke. This is a multi-day trial. We have to go through the forest to get to the mountains. Think of it as field day or camping" Sano said optimistically. "There must be a trick to it".

"Yeah but how am I supposed to do the best I can without my swords? We looked through the entire room multiple times..." Heisuke finished dejected again. Today was proving to be a very emotional day for him.

The rest of the group listened and made their own thoughts on the matter. By now, they had gotten back to their rooms and were preparing their bags. As the headmaster's explained earlier, this would be a multi day trip so anything that would be packed had to be efficient. Everyone in Saitou's room were relatively quiet during preparation when a loud exclamation disrupted them. Even through the wall, nothing could have muffled Heisuke's loud and triumphant exclamation. "MY SWORDS-!" the rest of the sentence was cut off by a _THUNK_ which was in turn followed by a yelp.

"I told you to look there, BAKA" Shin's reproaching could be heard from beyond the wall.

"But I did! Twice!" Heisuke yelled. "They weren't here earlier! And you didn't have to hit me!"

"Oi, oi, calm down" Sano could be heard from beyond the wall. "Where did you find your swords, Heisuke?"

"Under the dresser, right behind the stands they were on earlier" the teen explained. "But it doesn't make any sense. That was the first place I checked and they weren't there. I had to get on my knees to reach under the dresser and get them".

"Then how would you explain them suddenly showing up out of nowhere?" Shin asked. "The person who stole them were nice enough to put them back? That isn't the normal behavior of a thief"

A quick moment of silence was followed by Shin's observation, which the others assumed was because the trio were nodding their heads in agreement. The rest of the conversation couldn't be heard from that point on, Heisuke and Shin having calmed down enough to speak relatively quiet. Only a soft murmur could be heard as background noise.

By now, everyone had prepared as best they could: weapons, clothing, bandages, water, whatever they thought they would need. It was rather unfortunate that the students couldn't bring any food with them, but that was part of the challenge. Make it to the base of the mountains alive while utilizing all of your survival skills. While not the most difficult of challenges a person could come up with, most of everyone's mindset were shared. _'Seems easy enough'_

* * *

Since Rin was already in gear and had her travel pack prepared and ready to go from her trip earlier this morning, Rin waited for Umi and Chizuru at the front of the forest where everyone else was gathering. As her friends approached, Rin noticed that Umi wore all of her gear as well as her knives of all shapes and sizes strapped to the leather belts crisscrossing her waist and torso as well as a well worn pack on her back, which Rin had no doubt in her mind, contained enough weapons for small army. If having more than enough razor sharp knives weren't enough, Umi also had a short, yew bow slung on her back with a full quiver settled on her waist.

Unlike Umi, however, Chizuru wasn't dressed like she was about to massacre hundreds of people. She had her travel cloak around her along with a large, tan bag that was slung over one of her shoulders, carrying any medical supplies the oni could think of to bring. The only weapon in sight was her short sword, which she wore on her left hip.

As soon as the two girls got within ear shot, Rin called out to Umi, eyeing the rouges' massive collection, "You got enough knives to play with, Umi?" the girl teased. Chizuru chuckled quietly while Umi faced Rin with a smirk.

"No, playing with knives got boring when I was a kid. I've got plenty of other toys with me" she called back while patting the quiver strapped at her side. The action caught Rin's attention and she looked at the many arrows in the quiver. Most were the standard arrows, the feathers slightly frayed from use and age, the patters were ether spotted, striped, or both with dull colors. These were only some of the reasons why a select few of the _other_ arrows in the quiver caught Rin's attention. Rin recognized them.

"Umi... are those... are those MY feathers?" the seraph asked the rouge, first a little shocked at the discovery. Umi nodded with a smug and almost proud look while Chizuru looked away, a little sheepishly. "Why do you have arrows made from my feathers?" Rin questioned, intrigued. _'I didn't think to make arrows out of my feathers. I usually throw them out or give them to the kids at the village'_ The pure white color of the feathers greatly contrasted with the other arrows in the quiver. They looked to be newly made. The feathers weren't frayed and still held the light reflective properties they had while on Rin's back.

"Well, it turns out that the arrows made from your feathers are way better than the standard ones." Umi explained to Rin, who looked interested at what her friend had to say. "These arrows are so quiet when they fly, you can't hear them if you wanted to. And it takes so much for them to be damaged. Did I mention that they fly faster and farther, too?". At the end of the explanation, Umi looked as proud as a freshly preened song bird.

"Hmmm... I hope haven't been getting them directly from my wings, have you? They take forever to grow" Rin asked a little worried.

Umi shook her head no, "I've been sneaking into your room and getting them from under your bed or the waste bin".

At this, Rin frowned a little, displeased that Umi had been sneaking into her room more times than she already thought the rouge was. "If you had asked for them, I would have given them to you willingly. It doesn't look like you have a lot. I only count five arrows in the quiver. How long have you been collecting them? I probably only loose a feather every couple of weeks. They don't fall out often"

"I've been getting them for years now. It takes a few feathers to make a single arrow" Umi told her. "Heck, when I got the first one, I sold it to a merchant. I don't think I've ever had so much money in my life".

"Somebody bought my feather? Why would they want it?" Rin asked curiously.

Umi shook her head, "I don't know what his problem was. He just seemed really enthusiastic about it"

"Hmmm" Rin turned to look at Chizuru, who was still smiling meekly. "And how long have you known this was going on?"

The oni chuckled, "It's been a while now. Umi made me promise not to say anything". At this, Rin nodded her head. _'Once Chizuru makes a promise, she really does anything in her power to keep it'_

* * *

By now it was noon and all of the students from Nirvana and Shieikan had gathered at the front of the forest. The area was alive with excitement be it idle chatter or serious planning. Everyone was gathered in a large mob. From where he was standing, Saitou could see Rin. Remembering what Osen had asked him to do, the man kept an eye on her and during the process, they briefly made eye contact. Rin greeted him with a nod of the head which he returned and they looked away.

The only thing holding the students back from starting were the final announcements. Luckily, nobody had to wait long because the headmasters soon came forward and silenced the crowd.

"Now, I know that we are all excited for the festival to finally start but we need to address a few important rules and protocols." Kondo said with a grin. Standing beside him was Osen and the other teachers who were nodding in agreement. "First of all, this will be a multi-day trial. It is _encouraged_ that you make alliances with at least _one_ person. That would make the entire festivals' events easier for you".

Rin looked around, observing everybody's behaviors. _'It already seemed like groups are made. But those groups aren't intermingled. The_ _Gathering is an event that encourages union between two schools, so it would be logical if the group that has multiple strengths would be more efficient'_

Rin looked to Umi and Chizuru. Judging from their expressions, they both had thought of the same thing. "Do you want to be allies with students from Shieikan? It would be better" Rin said quietly. Chizuru nodded, thinking that it was better and although Umi agreed, she looked like she would rather not.

"But Rin, who would they be?" Chizuru asked her.

The seraph smiled a little, "I think we have a pretty decent group. In case you haven't noticed Chizuru, you already made a couple of friends" Looking slightly amused by Chizuru's confusion, Rin indicated her head towards a group of rowdy looking people, whom Chizuru and Umi recognized immediately.

It seemed that it wasn't only Rin's group who thought of the benefits of an intermingled group, but Saitou's group had as well. Sano, Shinpatchi, and Heisuke were all looking directly at Chizuru with hopeful expressions, most likely remembering the events of this morning, while the rest of the group were evaluating Umi and Rin.

Umi patted Chizuru on the back, "Great job Chizuru. Look at all the choices you have!"

"But I thought we all could be with all of them..." the oni thought thoughtfully.

Umi had to hold her laughter, "Whoa, ambitious are we? I'm glad to see that you're expanding your horizons with a variety of different people" the rouge continued to joke. Of course Rin had understood what her friend was trying to imply but knowing Chizuru, she would never understand what Umi was trying to say. Even so, Rin observed Chizuru, looking for any signs that she could have understood what Umi was implying. There was none.

During Umi's tasteless banter, Rin made eye contact with Saitou. It already seemed like both groups had agreed to be allied but just for conformation, the seraph slightly tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in question. Saitou nodded his head once and Rin did the same.

"We have an alliance now" the seraph told her friends, who were watching the entire exchange. Before anymore could be said, the murmuring was quickly cut off by another teacher, ending conversations for now.

Kimigiku stepped forward, "There will be no deliberate maiming or killing other students. Although it would not seem like so, we have the forest under strict observation. We will not tolerate anyone who would violate these rules" she said firmly.

"If you are unable to continue, please use the whistles around your necks to call for help-". The announcement was interrupted by a raised hand from a student of Shieikan. Osen raised an eyebrow but asked, "Yes?"

"Umm, I'm sorry but I don't think I got a whistle" the student said a little nervously under the glares that Headmaster Kondo gave him.

Osen didn't looked fazed by the question but instead informed, "Yes, you do" and pointed at her own neck, implying that the student should check his own, then continued on with her explanation as if nothing had happened. The student looked confused and followed Osen's example, discovering that said item had indeed in fact appeared around his neck. The other Shieikan students around him looked bewildered and a began following suit, checking to see if they had a whistle as well. _'When did that get ther- never mind. This is a magic school. Things like this are to be expected'_ Osen suddenly had a great smile on her face, as if knowing what the students were thinking.

"We will send aid immediately. But know that once you opt out, you can no longer compete in this event" Osen said pleasantly. "Please know that we do everything in our power to make the events as fair for everybody as possible. The forest is a completely different environment than it usually is. There will be wild beasts loose so please, everyone tread with caution" the Headmistress said.

The teachers looked at each other, making sure that there wasn't any additional information that was needed to be said. Kondo spoke up again, "Well, that's it I suppose... Be safe" he finished awkwardly.

"Typical Kondo-san" Souji said quietly. The others nodded in agreement, knowing that public speaking wasn't one of their headmaster's strong points.

The festival had officially started and some of the groups stepped forward toward the forest with confidence. Saitou and his group had headed toward Rin's group. More specifically, Chizuru. While walking towards the girls, Saitou had noticed that most of the other students were looking at Rin, most likely thinking the same thing. _'That girl can easily fly over the forest and get to the mountains in no time'_

Rin fidgeted, slightly uncomfortable by the attention. Of course she had also thought of the same thing many times since breakfast. She looked at her friends, having agreed to the alliance more for their sakes than hers. Umi looked a little impatient, as if asking the seraph to hurry up and carry or guide them to the other side but Chizuru still had her small smile, as if encouraging her to take her time.

 _'Something isn't right. It can't be that easy. There must be a reason why alliances are implemented'_ Rin thought. The forest originally silent to begin with, but now, it looked like nothing _dared_ to move. She stole a quick glance at Headmistress Osen, who had an innocent look on her face.

"Can we get a move on, Rin?" Umi finally asked out loud, glancing behind her to watch the oncoming people.

To the rouges' displeasure, Rin shook her head, "Just a second. I'm going to fly over the forest to see if it's alright. Something's off"

With nothing more to say, Rin slipped off her pack and took off. She quickly rose in elevation and glided over the forest canopy. It was peaceful for a while and Rin decided to go back to her friends to fly them over. _'I would fly everyone over if I can but that would take a while. We might have to walk a part of the way. And I doubt that I can carry the larger men. They're at least three times larger than me. At least we have a couple of days...'_

When vines shot out of the forest and tried to grab her.

Banking hard, Rin dodged the attack and unsheathed both of her swords. The vines came at her in all directions, surrounding the airborne seraph. Rin slashed at them but as soon as one vine was severed, it was replaced by five more, almost like the heads on a hydra. Rin flew higher and tried to outmaneuver the oncoming assault, but no matter how far above the forest she was, the vines followed at fast speed.

Rin was trapped. She kept slashing at the oncoming vines but that was proving to be useless and she was soon overwhelmed. In an instant, a vine got through her defenses and wrapped itself around her ankle. Before Rin could cut it, it whipped back and flung her to the front of the forest like a whip, where everyone was watching the scene.

At this point, Rin was being hurtled to the ground. She was tumbling in the sky, unable to break her fall and by the speeds and positions she was in. All the girl could do was to hold on to her swords, grasped tightly in her hands. The ground was approaching fast and at this point, Rin had to do something. A seraph can't survive the fall from way up in the air and the tumble could actually make her black out, which would be especially bad.

 _'This is going to hurt a lot and maybe even strain my wings... Damn it'_ Rin cursed to herself. Of course, Rin had been knocked out of the air before in the past be it by freak wind fronts or, surprisingly, a pissed off zephyr sprite but in those experience's, she had plenty of time to slow her fall and glide to a halt. But now, Rin was hurled straight to the hard ground of Nirvana by what seemed like the strength of the _entire_ forest.

Mustering all of her strength, Rin forced her wings open to their full wingspan, trying to catch all of the opposing air she could. The wind hit her like a brick wall and the seraph felt her wings being pushed back and stretched painfully. But it wasn't over yet. Although Rin had stopped her tumble, she was still falling, but now at a controllable speed. Each powerful flap of her wings sent a sharp pain down Rin's back, causing her to wince in pain. Luckily, the vines had stopped their pursuit.

As Rin came down, the spectators backed up, partially concerned at her still drawn swords and allowing her the space to land rather sloppily, and to her embarrassment, in front of the calm and collected Saitou. Her feet had barley even touched the ground before she was surrounded by Chizuru, Umi and the men they were alliance with.

"Rin! Are you alright!?" Chizuru asked before anyone else could speak, concern visible in her wide eyes.

"I guess we have to walk blindly into the thicket then" Umi said disappointedly while picking up a feather that had fallen loose and carefully stuffed it into her backpack.

The seraph nodded "Yeah, I'm fine" she answered, not telling the oni of the pulled muscles in her wings. _'They will heal later tonight'_ Rin turned her head to look at Osen, who still had her smile. Rin gave her a look of annoyance, fully knowing Osen would get her message. _'You aren't letting me fly, aren't you'_ It wasn't a question. Osen's look hadn't changed at all but suddenly, Rin heard the Headmistress' voice in her head.

 _'Why Rin, that wouldn't be fair to everyone else, now would it?'_ feigning innocence.

Knowing that this was a two way transmission, Rin spoke back defiantly, _'I was BORN with these. It's not as though I chose to have them...'_

 _'Hmmm, no matter'_ Osen quickly said back and cut off the connection. The headmistress turned to make conversation with Kondo.

"Damn it" Rin cursed under her breath. She folded her wings in, knowing that they would only get in the way otherwise. _'This is going to be a long day...'_


End file.
